Canberra: Wilmar Sugar and Renewables, Australia’s largest sugar producer, is shutting down its eight mills for up to 16 hours on Thursday due to a strike by unionised workers demanding better pay, reported Reuters.
As per the company, the next strike will be held on July 24.
Wilmar, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Wilmar International, produces over 2 million metric tons of sugar annually, valued at around $1 billion, most of which are exported.
The industrial action, which began in May, disrupted the start of Wilmar’s June-to-November cane-crushing season, posing a threat to sugar production—however, the frequency of strikes diminished in June. The latest strike comes after unions successfully appealed against a government labour tribunal order to suspend industrial action, according to Wilmar.
Despite the strike itself lasting only one hour, Wilmar explained that safely shutting down and restarting boilers and turbines requires significantly more time. The mills are crucial to the economy of communities on Australia’s hot and humid northeast coast, where sugar production plays a major role.
