The labor dispute at Cargill’s Fort Morgan, Colo., beef facility remains unresolved following a lockout that began on May 20. Despite ongoing negotiations between Cargill and Teamsters Local 455, a new contract agreement has not yet been reached.
Cargill representatives met with Teamsters Local 455 representatives on Wednesday.
The Fort Morgan plant has not been harvesting since April 23 due to these ongoing labor negotiations and the concern of a potential work stoppage.
“Following additional bargaining on May 27, we remain focused on reaching an agreement that supports employees, customers and cattle suppliers and allows the facility to return to normal operations safely and productively,” a Cargill representative says. “We met with the union and reviewed its counterproposal. While the meeting did not result in an agreement, we remain open to discussing with the union how the contract package might be structured in different ways to address employee priorities and support a stable future for the Fort Morgan facility.”
According to the Teamsters’ social meadia, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman was in Colorado Wednesday. “IBT General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman’s arrival in Fort Morgan on Wednesday sends a clear message to Cargill that its lockout of more than 1,700 is bigger than Fort Morgan, bigger than Cargill: It’s a fight to protect the dignity and rights of the men and women who keep our food chain moving. Zuckerman is in Fort Morgan today reaching out to locked-out members to hear their stories, their needs and to remind them they have the weight of the IBT behind them in their fight for a fair contract.”
Zuckerman spent the morning on the picket line with Cargill Teamsters who have been locked out of their jobs for more than a week. According to social media, Zuckerman says, “The Teamsters Union is in the fight until ‘we get what we deserve,’ calling the highly profitable company’s previous contract offer ‘scraps’ that should be tossed like garbage in the meat processing facility.”
“We continue to welcome proposals that help move us toward a sustainable agreement and would support a joint meeting with a mediator,” the Cargill represetative summarizes.
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