Strike continues at Portvale

PORTVALE FACTORY remained silent today following the breakdown of talks yesterday between the Barbados Agricultural Management Company and the Barbados Workers Union to end a now four-day-old strike.
A visit to the St James factory found workers sitting around, eating or playing dominoes as work remained stalled.
The one concern raised was whether the cane piled up in the factory yard would last, given its shelf life of about a week.
According to the workers, longer stalks of cut canes had a better chance of staying viable for a longer period of time after being harvested than those that are chopped into several pieces by the mechanical harvesters.
But they explained that eventually all the harvested cane would start to ferment, “smoke” and emit a pungent odour, also becoming a fire risk as heat built up in the piles, increasing the chances of spontaneous combustion from exposure to direct sunlight.
The two parties will meet with the Minister of Labour Senator Dr Esther Byer Suckoo tomorrow. (CA)