Elena Prager offers insight on meatpacking wage-fixing concerns

Simon economist provides context for an investigation into similar wage patterns at major meatpacking companies

Elena Prager, associate professor of economics at University of Rochester Simon Business School, provides expert perspective in a recent investigation by nonprofit news outlet Sentient into labor disputes at some of the nation’s largest meatpacking companies.

The article examines union leaders’ concerns that JBS and Cargill have pushed for similar wage structures during recent contract negotiations at meatpacking plants across the country. The disputes have contributed to significant labor actions, including a strike involving 3,800 JBS workers and a prolonged lockout of more than 1,700 Cargill workers in Colorado.

 Prager, an applied microeconomist, provides context on what wage similarities across different labor markets can indicate. She explains that unusually similar wage levels or trends can raise questions about potential collusion, particularly when competition for workers differs across geographic markets. However, she cautions that such patterns alone are not sufficient to establish that collusion has occurred.

The article explores those questions against the backdrop of consolidation in the U.S. beef industry and the challenges involved in determining when similar wage practices cross the line into illegal wage fixing.    

Read the full Sentient investigation, “How an Alleged Wage-Fixing Scheme Is Fueling Historic Labor Uprisings,” to learn more about the labor disputes and Prager’s perspective. 

Rigorous Thinking.
Real Transformation.

Simon Business School develops analytical thinkers and adaptive problem-solvers who lead people, ideas, and industries into the future.