JBS Beef, One Of Montco's Largest Employers, Will Not Shut Down, Some Jobs Saved

FRANCONIA TOWNSHIP, PA — A small amount of jobs at the JBS meat plant in Souderton will be saved, the company and officials announced Tuesday, as the facility will be transformed into a "value-added operation."

Roughly 400 jobs will be saved out of the 1,700 lost following extensive negotiations between the UFCW Local 1776, local elected officials, and the company.

JBS will still cease shipping the large, raw animal carcasses on Aug. 14. And that will still lead to the termination 1,300 jobs. But "value added" operations, which involve cutting, seasoning, pre-cooking, and packaging meats into retail-ready portions, will continue and expand into the future.

"No amount of job loss is something to celebrate, and harvesting operations at the plant will still wind down this week," State Sen. Maria Collett said. "Some of our neighbors are facing a hard road. But I am grateful that hundreds of families in SD 12 were spared that outcome."

JBS said they will invest $30 million over the coming decade to modernize the Souderton facility for its new focus.

U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick said that leaders have been working on a compromise to keep the plant open ever since the closure was announced. Specifically, he called UFCW Local 1776's Wendell Young "amazing" in his work to preserve the facility.

"I will always champion our workers, and will leave no stone unturned to protect our workers and good-paying jobs, strengthen our local communities that depend on them, and keep long-term investment right here at home," Fitzpatrick said.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding also called JBS an "important economic anchor for the region."

The move comes after PETA offered save some jobs by leasing the facilities and turn them into "empathy museums."

PETA cited numerous investigations into JBS that they said revealed extreme animal abuse and poor working conditions for employees. Workers were "low-paid and overburdened," subject to dangerous conditions and a variety of labor violations, including child labor violations, according to the animal rights organization. PETA has also vocally condemned JBS facilities in the past for raising millions of cows, pigs, and chickens crammed closely together on filthy factory farms.

JBS is located on 249 Allentown Road.