Overview:
Promises of good money lured Haitian immigrants to meatpacking jobs in Colorado. But they say the hazardous working conditions and alleged exploitation they experience must change, prompting a lawsuit and strike that launched March 16.
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Editor’s Note: This story is the second installment of a three-part series looking at Haitians in Greeley, Colorado — a company town with a burgeoning immigrant population — as shifting immigration, economic and geopolitical forces meet. It is supported in part by URL Media. Read part one here.
GREELEY, Colo. — When Jean Bazile, a father of two from Port-au-Prince, arrived in the United States via the southern border in July 2023, he urgently needed work to support his family back in Haiti’s capital.
Bazile, 30, went online to look for a job and came across a TikTok video by Mackenson Rémy promoting “a great job opportunity in Colorado.”
Bazile, who asked to use a pseudonym to avoid retaliation, contacted Rémy right away. Rémy brought him to Greeley for a job with JBS, the world’s largest meat producer with more than $73 billion in annual revenue.
With hourly wages at meatpacking plants ranging from $24 to $34—well above Colorado’s minimum wage—Bazile felt lucky to be earning that much as a newcomer. He did not expect the grueling, fast-paced, often hazardous nature of cutting and packing thousands of pounds of meat.
“The working environment is nearly impossible to sustain during long shifts,” Bazile told The Haitian Times in a recent interview.
“There is extreme heat, poor ventilation and little time to learn how to use the sharp, dangerous tools,” he said. “Yet we’re expected to work quickly, no matter the risk.”
On March 16, Bazile joined members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) local union on strike at the JBS plant to demand better pay, improved safety and stronger health care benefits. Claire Poundstone, an attorney for the union, said that more than 2,600 JBS workers walked off the job on the first day of the strike alone, marching daily with placards and signs denouncing JBS’ practices.
Planned to run for two weeks, many workers say they are prepared to continue picketing until conditions improve. Osnal Boyer, a native of Aquin in southern Haiti, is among those who pledge to keep fighting.
“It’s time for the UFCW to think about ending the contract if JBS refuses to negotiate in good faith.”
JBS produces 8% of the beef consumed in the U.S. — with workers slaughtering at least 10,000 cows daily. The company says it already offers a “strong, fair and consistent contract,” citing wage increases and benefits negotiated in 2025.
Union leaders dispute that claim. UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova said the company’s proposed raises—averaging less than 2%—fall below inflation, while rising health care costs are shifted onto workers.
Of the plant’s 3,800 unionized workers, between 80% and 90% are foreign-born, according to the union, including 1,000 Haitians.
“The company violates workers’ rights and ignores their concerns about safety and health,” Cordova said in a statement ahead of the strike. “It gives workers no choice but to stand together in solidarity and show that they cannot be silenced.”
Workplace conditions ‘wear them down fast’
Union organizers say momentum is growing. Nearly all members voted on Feb. 7 to authorize the strike, and more workers are expected to join as the picket line continues — the first major strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since 1985.
For plant employees, the job’s demands are simply unsustainable.
Emmanuel Jean, a food safety inspector whose role entailed enforcing rules at plants like JBS, said the conditions make staying inside the plant impossible after a few years.
“The heat from boiling machines, the physical strain and standing for long shifts wear them down fast,” he said.
Workers describe a high-speed production environment where carcasses move along a “disassembly line,” broken down with power knives, saws and hooks. Floors are often slick with blood and grease, while noise, chemicals and heat create hazardous conditions.
In a pending lawsuit, Haitian workers allege:
- Excessive line speeds reaching up to about 450 cattle per hour.
- Temperatures up to 100 degrees on the kill floor.
- Denial of bathroom breaks, forcing some workers to urinate on themselves.
- Inadequate training in languages workers understand.
- Pressure to sign documents waiving rights without comprehension.
“The harm caused by JBS management’s choices will remain with workers forever,” said Hannah Wolf, an attorney from FarmSTAND representing plaintiffs, during a Zoom interview with The Haitian Times. “The company must be held accountable.”
A never-ending cycle to find new immigrants
“No one who’s properly settled in the country stays long in a job like that,” said Anne François, a former meatpacking plant worker for a JBS competitor. She left the company after becoming pregnant, and now runs a budding Haitian food catering business.
With departures likely as people like François gain a foothold in the country, JBS has had to get creative to source new workers from outside Greeley.
“They pay relatively well,” said Emmanuel Charles, a former JBS worker. “But after a year or two, many leave. Then the hiring cycle starts again.”
Over the years, recruitment has even reached across the globe—tapping refugees from Somalia, Burma and countries in West Africa. More recently, as the pandemic exacerbated the labor shortage, recruiters targeted migrants already in the U.S.
Enter Rémy. He is a local entrepreneur who developed connections within JBS, notably with human resources manager Edmond Ebah, a native of Benin. However, since the allegations against him emerged in late fall of 2025, he has largely stayed out of public view and has not responded to multiple requests for comment regarding his role and the accusations. His current whereabouts remain unclear.
As his social media promotions gained views on different platforms, Rémy became known among newly-arriving Haitians as their ticket to finding jobs quickly.
Bazile said he was transported in July 2023 from Miami to Colorado in a packed van with 14 others for a three-day journey. When they arrived in Greeley in the chill of early morning in the mountains, he found 10 to 15 people sharing a small room at the Rainbow Motel in downtown. A 5-bedroom house nearby that Rémy owned held about 60 people.
The conditions Bazile observed prompted him to ask Rémy if there was another place for him to stay instead of the crowded motel. Rémy then took him to the unfurnished home, where Bazile stayed in a room with 11 other people he did not know, paying $65 a night in rent. To eat regularly, Bazile said they were pressured to buy overpriced goods and rides to the shop that Rémy owned.
Despite the difficulties, three days after his arrival in Greeley, Bazile began working at JBS.
“Racks of beef move almost at light speed,” he said. “It’s hot, humid, and there are no bathroom breaks as needed. Not enough training. They give you cheap tools to work with and still expect perfect performance.”
‘Something must change’
Despite the conditions, pending lawsuits and broader immigration concerns affecting Haitians with Temporary Protected Status (TPS), many workers stay because they have no choice.
Bazile, for one, sees a bleak future if he quits. Having sold his lands in Haiti to finance his journey, he cannot even build a home for his family any longer. His wife and two young children are depending on him.
After more than two years at JBS, he supports both the strike and the pending lawsuit—despite the fear of losing his job. For him, the fight is about more than wages. It’s about dignity.
“Something must change,” he said. “We get injured, we don’t get proper treatment, and we’re not paid enough to keep up with the cost of living.”
Facts Only
* Jean Bazile, 30, arrived in Greeley in July 2023.
* Mackenson Rémy promoted a job opportunity at JBS in Colorado.
* JBS pays workers $24 to $34 per hour.
* The UFCW strike began on March 16, 2023.
* More than 2,600 JBS workers participated in the strike.
* JBS produces 8% of U.S. beef consumed daily (10,000 cows).
* 80-90% of JBS workers are foreign-born, including 1,000 Haitians.
* Workers allege excessive line speeds, extreme temperatures, denial of breaks, inadequate training, and waived rights.
* A lawsuit is pending against JBS.
* The company offers a “strong, fair and consistent contract.”
* The UFCW disputes this claim regarding pay increases.
* Anne François left a JBS competitor after becoming pregnant.
* Emmanuel Charles left JBS after a couple of years and many workers are likely to depart after similar periods.
* Emmanuel Rémy facilitated worker recruitment.
Executive Summary
Full Take
Patterns detected: ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey, ARC-0024 Ambiguity
The core narrative presented here—a primarily factual account of labor exploitation—operates as a Motte-and-Bailey argument. The article initially presents verifiable details of the strike and working conditions (the “motte”), while simultaneously obscuring the underlying systemic issues of recruitment practices and potential complicity within JBS’s own internal structure (the “bailey”). The shifting language around the ‘strong, fair and consistent contract’ demonstrates this deliberate obfuscation—a tactic designed to avoid acknowledging deeper issues of power imbalances and potential abuses of labor contracts. Furthermore, the inclusion of Emmanuel Rémy as a key figure raises questions of ambiguity. He’s presented as both an entrepreneur offering opportunity and a potential facilitator of exploitation, without clear delineation of his precise role or degree of responsibility. The article effectively avoids directly confronting the potential for a system where recruiters profit from the vulnerability of desperate immigrants.
This narrative also subtly echoes a classic “victim narrative,” framing the Haitian workers as inherently susceptible to exploitation due to their immigration status and lack of familiarity with the U.S. system. While this is undoubtedly a factor, it risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes and diverting attention from broader structural issues within the meatpacking industry—namely, the relentless pressure for efficiency and the inherent dangers associated with high-speed, physically demanding work. The emphasis on individual “wear them down fast” suggests a focus on the suffering of the workers rather than acknowledging the systemic nature of the problem.
The reliance on a single, unnamed TikTok video to initiate this chain of events—a key moment in Bazile’s journey—represents a form of "confirmation bias" – seeking out information that supports a pre-existing narrative, here, the desire for a better life. The article skillfully utilizes this isolated event to create a sense of urgency and immediate crisis. The pattern here isn’t just about the JBS strike, but about how vulnerable individuals—seeking economic opportunity—can be manipulated within a globalized labor market, especially when connected through social media intermediaries.
The potential for a “sanewashing” operation is concerning. While the article highlights genuine issues, the underlying narrative of “just asking questions” and the repeated emphasis on worker dignity—particularly in the face of hardship—creates a space where JBS could later leverage claims of genuine concern to deflect criticism or diminish the severity of the situation. The narrative is a delicate balancing act between exposing exploitation and presenting a sympathetic image, potentially priming the audience to accept a negotiated settlement that ultimately falls short of addressing the root causes of the problem. This is further complicated by the potential for this case to become weaponized in broader debates surrounding immigration policy.
Sentinel — Uncertain
This article presents a detailed account of a strike at a JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado, involving Haitian immigrant workers and highlighting concerns about hazardous conditions, exploitation, and labor rights. The writing style, use of personal anecdotes, and inclusion of specific details strongly suggest human authorship, though minor stylistic elements could point to potential AI assistance.