Meatpackers are on strike for the first time in 40 years. Beef industry labor disputes may be rare by design

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...