Over 1,700 members of Teamsters Local 455 who work at the Cargill meat processing plant in Fort Morgan, Colorado, voted by a large majority Aug. 17 to approve a new five-year contract and to return to work. They were locked out by Cargill bosses May 20 after they voted to reject the company’s substandard wage raise offer of just $2.15 an hour total increase over five years.
A tentative agreement had been announced July 28, which workers voted down Aug. 3 by a narrow margin.
While details of the contract workers approved have not been disclosed, the union said workers would be returning to work over a 30-day period as the plant gears up production.
“While this contract is not perfect, it is a legally binding agreement that provides security for the more than 1,700 men and women who keep Cargill running,” a union statement said. “Teamsters Local 455 will continue to be on the ground in Fort Morgan to build strength and solidarity at Cargill and to enforce the terms and conditions of the new agreement.”
A significant number of workers in Fort Morgan are from Haiti or other countries outside the U.S. and are now facing the loss of their Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to live and work here.