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Nearly 4,000 workers at a Colorado meatpacking plant went on strike on Monday, marking the first labor strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse in more than four decades. The strike began early Monday morning at the Swift Beef Co. plant, which is owned by JBS USA, a subsidiary of the largest meatpacking company and protein producer in the world. About 3,800 workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, are involved in the strike. The union says that the company has committed multiple unfair labor practicesincluding retaliation against workers, threats to withhold bonuses or pension payments if workers strike, and intimidation. The Colorado action is the first at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers went on strike at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, which ended up lasting for more than a year. JBS has also charged workers to offset the costs of safety equipment, has proposed wage increases of less than 2% per year, and has raised health care premiums in a way that workers say is consuming their wages as the general cost of living rises, the union says. In a statement to Fast Company, JBS says its Greeley, Colorado, location complies fully with all federal and state labor and employment laws, and that it is committed to open communication with workers and to safe operations. What’s the beef? The union and JBS have been negotiating a new contract for nine months. In February, 99% of union members voted to authorize a strike; the previous contract expired Sunday night. They continue to increase chain speeds and create dangerous working conditions, all while reducing hours for workers, Leticia Avalos, a JBS worker, said in a statement in early February. Safety conditions are a big concern for such workers. Meatpacking is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. At poultry, beef, and pork processing plants, workers are exposed to dangerous equipment, slippery floors, and biological hazards related to feces and blood; they can even breathe in bacteria from infected animals or be exposed through cuts. Despite these conditions, labor disputes in the industry are rare. Union workers say thats because such plants often rely on vulnerable workers like refugees and immigrantsincluding those who are undocumented, who make up anywhere from 30% to 50% of the meatpacking workforce. The industry hasnt had a labor dispute for a very long time, and its because they hire a very vulnerable workforce and the expectations are they keep their head down, Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7, told The Guardian. Theyre doing the work, frankly, no one in this country wants to do. Cordova also suggests the company has been emboldened by the Trump administration. Pilgrims Pride, a subsidiary of the JBS conglomerate, donated $5 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committeewhich is more, Sen. Elizabeth Warrens office noted, than contributions from Apples CEO plus Amazon, Meta, and Google combined. Meat prices are soaring in 2026 In the background of the strike is the fact that U.S. meat prices are skyrocketing. In December 2025, prices for beef in particular were up 15% year over year, and those prices have continued to rise nearly 7% so far in 2026. Experts say those increases are affected by overall inflation, a parasitic fly crisis in Mexico, and the fact that the U.S. cattle herd is at a 75-year low. Its not yet clear if the strike will affect those prices even more. A JBS spokesperson said the company is adjusting production across its network in order to minimize disruptions.
Category:
E-Commerce
A limited-time dime design that the U.S. Mint is releasing this year is drawing attention over a very symbolic omission. The Emerging Liberty dime, created for the U.S. Semiquincentennial, shows a woman who personifies Liberty on the heads side; on the tails side, there’s a bald eagle holding arrows in its talons for war, but it’s missing olive branches in its other talons for peace. The coin design was announced late last year, but those missing olive branches seem especially glaring as the Iran war enters its third week. Left: 2026 SemiQ Dime Uncirculated Reverse; Right: 2025 Roosevelt Dime Uncirculated Reverse [Photo: U.S. Mint] During his presidency, Trump’s has used the mint to make a statement about his priorities. The administration has been trying to put Trump’s visage on a commemorative $1 coin, despite a U.S. law barring living former and current presidents from appearing on coins. Meanwhile, the four-year American Women Quarters program ended last year and wasn’t renewed. Trump’s Mint also scrapped plans from the Biden Administration for commemorative 2026 coin designs that would have depicted advancements in civil and voting rights in U.S. history. Instead, the coin designs will focus on the U.S. founding and American Revolution. The new Emerging Liberty dime will temporarily replacing the classic Roosevelt dime showing Franklin D. Roosevelt on one side and a torch, olive branch, and oak branch on the other side for liberty, peace, and strength. The Roosevelt dime will return in 2027. A new symbolism Left: 2026 SemiQ Dime Uncirculated Obverse; Right: 2025 Roosevelt Dime Uncirculated Obverse [Photo: U.S. Mint] Critics say that the new dime design sends a pointed message, and given the administration’s track record, that’s a fair read of the situation. Trump hasn’t pursued a foreign policy of peace in his second term, despite campaign promises to do so. Still, he has been an effective marketer of the idea. Trump used logos for initiatives like the so-called “Board of Peace” and “Shield of the Americas” summit, and after forcibly taking over the U.S. Institute of Peace last year, his State Department put his name on it. His push to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War is estimated to cost as much as $2 billion, and after after wearing a branded “USA” hat to the dignified transfer of six U.S. troops, his political action committee used a photo from the event in a fundraising email promising donors they’d get “private national security briefings.” For its part, the Mint says the new dime was designed to symbolize the past, not the present. It said the eagle’s arrows represent “the American Revolution and the colonists fight for independence.” Eric David Custer, the Mint medallic artist who created the image, told WPSU Public Media he left out the olive branches to represent the fact that colonists didn’t yet have peace at the time. The eagle’s talons are left open to show that it’s waiting for peace, though, he said. Custer’s past work includes designs for the 2022 Negro Leagues Baseball Commemorative Coin Program, 2023 American Women Quarters Program, and 2024 Harriet Tubman Commemorative Coin Program. Emerging Liberty dime is up against some tough optics, even with its intended meaning. Ditching the olive branch might be a story about the country’s founding, but doing so as the country embarks on a deeply unpopular war creates an irony that’s hard to ignore. The bald eagle on the Emerging Liberty dime might be waiting for peace, but in this moment, it seems primed for war.
Category:
E-Commerce
Melania Trumps self-titled documentary may have been more than a mediocre movie: Its also the grounds for questioning whether Amazon violated federal anti-bribery laws. In a March 15 letter, a group of U.S. lawmakers, including Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), called on Amazon to explain its deal to acquire Melania, particularly about the reasoning behind its sky-high price tag. Amazon spent $40 million to acquire the movie (and the rights to a proposed docuseries), the most expensive deal for a commissioned documentary ever, and $26 million more than Disney, the next highest bidder, offered for the first ladys film. “The fact that Amazon is seeking favorable treatment from the Trump administration while paying a far-above-market sum to produce and promote the Trump familys film raises questions about Amazons exposure under federal anti-bribery law,” the letter states, as revealed to USA Today. “When corporate giants […] transfer tens of millions of dollars to the family of a sitting president, that not only raises questions about corporate governance but also risks eroding public trust in the fairness of our economic and political systems.” The documentary deal joins a growing list of controversial interactions between Amazon and the Trump administration. The company donated $1 million to Donald Trumps reelection campaign, with founder Jeff Bezos himself attending his inauguration in 2025. Amazon also backed down on its plan to display how Trumps tariffs were impacting its prices, after the president reportedly spoke to Bezos directly. He did the right thing. Good guy, Trump said of Bezos to reporters at the time. The letter also cites evidence that Amazon and Bezos have financial stakes in being on good terms with the Trump administration, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseths visit to one of Bezoss Blue Origin space facilities in February of this year. The letter gives Amazon a deadline of March 30 to respond to a list of questions “to assist Congress in understanding the circumstances surrounding this transaction and in assessing Amazons compliance with applicable federal anti-bribery laws.” Giant corporations shouldnt be able to bribe their way out of paying taxes or fines theyve been issued for breaking the law,” Warren said in a statement about the letter to USA Today. “If Amazon is bribing the Trump administration, the company and its executives should be subject to criminal penalties. Among the letters demands is a commercial rationale for the $40 million Amazon shelled out for the film, along with the $35 million the company then spent on marketing. Those numbers seem to make little sense when taking Melania at its artistic merits: The movie was almost universally panned, not only for its controversial subject matter (the first ladys life in the two weeks leading up to Trumps second inauguration) or its choice of director (Brett Ratner, who previously hadnt made a film since 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct), but for what critics called its poor craft of filmmaking. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a critics score of only 11%, with reviewers decrying it as shallow, agonizingly dull, and two hours of almost pure absence. At Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony, Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at the film while presenting the award for best documentary, saying: He is gonna be mad that his wife wasn’t nominated for this, all without ever mentioning Trumps name. Amazon did not reply to Fast Companys request for comment by the time of publication. But the company has previously fielded accusations of bribery surrounding the deal, with a spokesperson saying at the time: “We licensed the film for one reason and one reason onlybecause we think customers are going to love it.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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