13 May 2013

New Caledonia cost-cutting plan amid strike threat

1:31 pm on 13 May 2013

Reports from New Caledonia say a political party has proposed measures to cut the high cost of living as the union movement is poised to launch a general strike.

Accoring to local media, the Caledonia Together Party, which is led by Philippe Gomes, wants to lower fuel prices.

It has also proposed that an employment scheme for unskilled young people should be put in place, under which the French state pays 75 percent of the wages.

The party has also proposed a one-off bonus payment for private sector employees who earn less than two and a half times the minimum wage.

Two years ago, 25,000 people took to the streets in unprecedented territory-wide action to push for economic reforms, but the unions say since then the government has failed to implement measures that have been agreed upon.