Australia’s industrial tribunal has ordered unionised workers at Wilmar Sugar and Renewables, the country’s largest sugar maker, to suspend industrial action for six weeks, the company said.
The Fair Work Commission’s decision will allow Wilmar’s eight sugar mills – which together produce more than 2 million tonnes of sugar worth around $1 billion a year – to avoid any further disruption to their operations.
A wage dispute led to strikes from May, which delayed and disrupted the start of seasonal sugarcane crushing operations and threatened to reduce sugar production in Australia.
“The suspension of industrial action mitigates the immediate risk to the annual crushing season and leaves room for negotiations with unions,” a Wilmar spokesperson said in a statement.
Unions will appeal the decision, Australian Workers’ Union representative Jim Wilson said.
But he added that the Fair Work Commission was likely to extend its suspension order to prevent further strike action and, if negotiations fail to progress in the coming months, impose a pay deal on both sides.
Wilmar Sugar and Renewables accounts for more than half of Australia’s sugar production, most of which is exported. It belongs to the Singaporean company Wilmar International.
The company said heavy rains in hot and humid parts of the north-east coast over the past week had forced it to halt work at its plants, but it hoped to have them all back up and running in the coming days.
