More than 200 workers have taken strike action at Jamaica’s third-largest sugar factory – which is scheduled to close in mid-March, reported Reuters news agency.
Sugar cane cutters threw down their tools at the Bernard Lodge sugar factory on Thursday, demanding to know more about their future employment at the factory. They demanded information about possible compensation and redundancy payments.
The strike puts added pressure on an already ailing industry that faces serious threats to its survival. Jamaica experienced its worst harvest last year, with only 127,000 tons of a projected 180,000 tons of sugar produced, reported Reuters.
According to the news agency, Jamaica is seeking alternatives to sugar production because the European Union slashed the price of sugar from African, Caribbean and Pacific exporters.
