Following a strike last month over pay disputes and worker conditions at the JBS Worthington Minnesota plant, the union has announced workers have ratified a new contract.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1161 said the five-year contract would see more than US$23m “pumped into the local economy” with a 12.8% increase in pay over the life of the agreement, maintaining of affordable health care costs and the establishment of a low-cost health care clinic in Worthington.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Go deeper with GlobalData

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

Workers had call the strike after the Brazil-based meat giant “made no offer of any wage increases, and has repeatedly proposed a health care plan that could drastically increase out-of-pocket costs for workers, while reducing coverage,” said the union.

The JBS Worthington plant employs more than 1800 people.

“This is a great agreement, not only for JBS workers but the entire Worthington community,” said Mike Potter, president of Local 1161. “This contract means that more than $23m dollars will be pumped into the local economy over the next five years.”