Guadeloupe Unions Win Raises but Strike Goes On

Labor union members shout slogans during a protest in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French Caribbean island...

Labor union members shout slogans during a protest in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009. Unions, businesses and French officials are holding talks to end a month-long strike that erupted into violent protests. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

(AP)

Unions in Guadeloupe scored a victory in getting a deal to raise some workers' salaries, but said Friday they will not end a general strike now concluding its sixth week on the French Caribbean island.

Leaders of the strike-organizing Collective Against Exploitation, or LKP, paused for handshakes and photos with small business owners after signing the deal just before midnight Thursday. The agreement raises some workers' salaires by $250 (euro200) a month.

The union leaders quickly turned their attention to unsettled issues of raises for thousands more workers and lowering food and energy prices many times higher than those on the French mainland.

"We have a meeting tomorrow afternoon with the prefect to continue the negotiations," LKP leader Elie Domota told The Associated Press after getting up from the signing table. Asked if the strike would now end, he said simply, "No."

The strike has shuttered stores across the island, chased away tourists and occasionally erupted into clashes between protesters and police. The deal was officially named the "Jacques Bino Accord" in honor of slain a union member killed leaving a strike meeting Feb. 17.

Starting March 1 those employers will provide up to half the salary increase for workers making up to $2,353 (euro1,849) a month, with the rest paid for by the French and local government. Workers making up to $2,690 (euro2,113) will receive at least a 6 percent raise.

But prospects for further salary talks were set back earlier Thursday when the French Caribbean department's large business owners refused to return to the negotiating table, accusing the unions of creating a "climate of intimidation and violence."

"Each day that passes, more and more companies face great difficulty, taking measures of unemployment, redundancy or are close to bankruptcy," the employers said, citing roadblocks and shop closures and accusing the LKP of physically intimidating business owners.

Around the same time, about 500 LKP supporters descended on a high-end Carrefour grocery store owned by a key business leader and kept open using nonunion workers during the strike.