Strike in Martinique Ends

[Edward Hamilton]

NEW YORK, NY – March 13, 2009 –Madeleine de Grandmaison, chairwoman of the Martinique Tourism Authority, issued the following statement today celebrating the official resolution of a general strike in effect on the island over the past few weeks:
“It gives me great pleasure to confirm the official end to the general strike in Martinique. The island’s shops and schools have re-opened, and life for the general population is quickly returning back to normal."



This has been a real mess for a lot of people though the reports stress that the tourism sector wasn't harmed through cooperation of the unions, hotels, taxis and airport personnel.

[JMac]

Any idea of how the general strike affected the distilleries? If the strike affected distillery workers...I can see problems with cane harvesting/processing and the actual distilling itself.....

Lets hope not...I love Neisson....

[Edward Hamilton]

Neisson will start cutting and processing cane today. That's the good news. One of the advantages the smaller distilleries have is that they will be able to recover by working longer hours for the next couple of months. It isn't going to be easy, but they have the work force and there are a lot of cutters, truck drivers, etc who are looking to make up for some of their lost time and wages.

[Hank Koestner]

I am glad this is over, and the flow of agricole will continue!