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.

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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.”

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