Wilmar Sugar Mills in Australia Face Work Stoppages Over Pay

(Bloomberg) -- Sugar mills in Australia belonging to Wilmar International Ltd. and representing more than half of the country’s production face industrial action over demands for higher pay, a union official said.

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Workers will strike from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Thursday and again on Monday across all eight mills owned by Wilmar, said Jim Wilson, Northern District Secretary at the Queensland branch of the Australian Workers Union.

The stoppages will disrupt preparations for the start of the cane-crushing season in about a month’s time and they will continue into the crushing season if the dispute is not resolved, Wilson said.

The mills process about 15 million tons of cane a year and produce more than two million tons of raw sugar, of which about 80% is shipped overseas, according to Wilmar’s website. Australia is the world’s fourth-biggest exporter, data from the US Department of Agriculture show.

Wilmar has asked the Fair Work Commission to assist in efforts to reach a negotiated resolution, it said in response to a Bloomberg request for comment. The company is taking all possible steps to avoid delays or disruption to the production season, it added.

(Updates to add comment from Wilmar in final paragraph)

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