admin 
The 2026 sugar harvest has effectively ground to a halt.
A temporary suspension of the grinding of cane and shift work at the Portvale Sugar Factory has resulted in no cane being reaped and growing concern about the spoilage of those already cut.
Operations Manager of the Barbados Energy & Sugar Company, Shanice Stevenson, has issued a memorandum to workers indicating that, starting tomorrow, Friday, March 27, 2026, all shift work will be temporarily suspended and regular daytime working hours will resume.
The notice also states that all workers are to report from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, until further notice.
The correspondence further notes that, during this period, workers’ rates will revert to their contracted out-of-crop rates.
Additionally, the A shift scheduled for 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. tonight, Thursday, 26th March 2026, has been cancelled to allow workers to report at 7 a.m. tomorrow.
Owner of Ashbury Plantation in St George, Michael Gill, says he and other plantation owners are being significantly impacted by the industrial action at the factory.
He says that while the factory received cane from plantations last Tuesday and Wednesday, it did not receive deliveries on Thursday, briefly resumed on Friday, and then stopped.
Plantations are now awaiting instructions to resume cutting, and Mr Gill says he is hopeful the situation will be resolved soon.
