Cargill has paused beef production at its Fort Morgan, Colorado, plant after locking out more than 1,700 workers, escalating a labour dispute over new contracts.
In a statement, the Minnesota-headquartered company said the lockout, which began on 20 May, followed “months of bargaining and an employee vote against the latest contract offer” at the beef facility.
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According to a social media post on X from the Teamsters Local 455 workers’ union, the regional arm of Teamsters, staff had rejected Cargill’s “last, best and final offer” by 1,388 votes to 252.
Their previous contract expired on 22 February.
Dean Modecker, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 455, wrote on X that Cargill has held its employees “hostage to a substandard contract offer that provides little change or improvement”.
The union said in a separate statement that the dispute centers on demands for “necessary improvements” to wages, healthcare and safety protections.
Modecker added in that statement: “Shame on this company for shutting out our members. Cargill can afford to give these workers a fair deal that reflects their hard work and dedication. This was a disgraceful move by a company that has long taken its workers for granted. We won’t stand for it.”
Cargill said the lockout was “a difficult decision” and that it believed its proposal was “fair and competitive”, representing an estimated $33.4m investment over five years.
Before the lockout, Cargill said it had already adjusted production schedules at Fort Morgan on 23 April amid uncertainty over a possible work stoppage.
The company said it did “not expect material impacts to producers or customers” because it can serve demand through its broader supply chain network.
Cargill also said cattle scheduled for Fort Morgan had been redirected to other company facilities, while employees continued to be paid under weekly guaranteed provisions in the expired contract.
The company confirmed with Just Food that it is not planning to close the Fort Morgan site or permanently end beef production there.
“Fort Morgan remains an important facility for Cargill,” the company said, adding it aims to return the plant to normal operations through continued negotiations with the union.
The labour dispute comes as Cargill makes other changes to its US manufacturing network.
In February, Cargill said it would shut its ground-beef processing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The move lead to the “permanent” removal of around 221 jobs. Production at the Milwaukee site was due to stop on or around 17 April, with the facility set to close fully by the end of May.
Last year, the company also closed its turkey-processing site in Springdale, Arkansas.
That factory produced fresh and frozen turkey products, bone-in turkey breasts and case-ready items.
In the broader US meat sector, Tyson Foods has pointed to continued constraints in cattle availability.
Tyson said it expects supplies to remain “tight” for the foreseeable future as it reported another quarterly fall in beef volumes.
The company’s volumes dropped 7.3% in the three months to 27 December, compared to an 8.4% decline in the final quarter of fiscal 2025.
Tyson said those figures do not yet include the effect of its planned shutdown of the Lexington, Nebraska, beef facility.
It announced the closure of its Lexington plant in November, alongside a plan to scale back operations at its site in Amarillo, Texas.
