Cargill Locks Out 1,700 Fort Morgan Workers After Contract Rejection

2 articles · Updated · The Colorado Sun · Jun 20

1,700 Cargill employees at the Fort Morgan, Colorado, beef plant have been locked out since May 20 after rejecting a new contract offer, leaving the facility idle for two months.
Year-one wages in Cargill’s proposal ranged from $24.20 to $32.10 an hour, but the dispute continued as Teamsters Local 455 filed an unfair labor practice charge and both sides said this week there were no updates.
Cargill had already redirected cattle to other processing plants in April, underscoring how tight cattle supplies are pressuring packers that rely on running at full capacity to make money.
The lockout comes as the beef industry faces shrinking herds, higher prices and broader cost cutting: Cargill closed a Milwaukee plant with 221 job cuts, Tyson shut a Nebraska beef plant affecting 3,000 workers, and JBS last week announced 1,693 more layoffs.