JBS workers at 2 Iowa plants win back pensions in national contract

By Amie Rivers

May 23, 2025

Meatpacking workers at JBS plants across the country, including two in Iowa, just ratified a first-ever national contract across all plants.

And they got their pensions back for the first time in nearly 40 years.

Brazil-based JBS, one of the world’s largest meat companies, and United Food and Commercial Workers, the union representing 26,000 workers at 14 plants, just ratified a contract that brings back pension plans for workers—which gives workers a defined salary and benefits in retirement—this week.

The contract also adds paid sick leave, which Tyson Foods, a JBS competitor, has been offering since 2021. It also increases average pay by a dollar an hour, paid vacation and bereavement, and adds new plant safety features workers had been demanding.

But the pension plan is something no meatpacking company has offered since 1986, according to the union.

“When I got the news about the pension, I was excited,” said Thelma Cruz, a union steward who works at JBS in Marshalltown.

She said she and her husband, who also works at the plant, were excited to stay with the company to watch their pension grow.

“Everything right now is very expensive, and it’s hard to save money for retirement, so this gives us security,” she added.

The contract covers all workers at both Iowa JBS plants in Marshalltown and Ottumwa.

What do you think of bringing back pensions? Email me.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Worker’s Almanac, which comes out weekly. Sign up for our newsletter here.

Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: LABOR

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