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French President Nicolas Sarkozy - Source: Reuters
Protesters in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe have blocked major roads and access routes to industrial zones, stepping up their month-old general strike for pay rises.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has refused to bow to the protest movement, which is spreading to other French overseas territories and has raised fears of contagion to the mainland.
Police made at least a dozen arrests and dragged away protesters by force as they tried to remove barricades made of tyres, car skeletons, rubbish bins and wooden crates blocking the main routes to Pointe-a-Pitre, the capital of Guadeloupe.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the barricades were illegal and protesters should limit any action to legal marches and strikes.
The protesters had previously blocked roads with cars and groups of people, but Tuesday (NZT) marked the first time they built barricades, prompting a tough response from police and highlighting the government's inability to resolve the crisis.
An alliance of around 50 unions and associations known as Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon (LKP) - Stand Up Against Exploitation in local dialect - began the protest on January 20 demanding a 200 euro monthly pay rise for low-wage workers.
Prices of many staple items are much higher on the island than in mainland France due to the cost of imports, while the average salaries are lower and unemployment is higher.
The government has met a number of other demands, but it is refusing to lower business taxes as a top up to company finances so that they will be able to afford the pay hikes. The bosses say they cannot afford to raise wages without government help.
The minister in charge of overseas territories, Yves Jego, has twice flown out to Guadeloupe to take part in negotiations between workers' and bosses' representatives, to no avail.
"That's enough, Guadeloupe cannot wait any longer," Jego was quoted as saying in Le Parisien newspaper.
"We are risking a conflict, which the government doesn't want. The alternative is for the 12 people who will determine the future of Guadeloupe, the six bosses' representatives and the six union secretaries, to negotiate and find a deal."
The Guadeloupe branch of Medef, the French employers' organisation, says between 8,000 and 12,000 private sector jobs out of a total of 79,000 could be lost on the island as a result of the crippling protest led by LKP.
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