Gabon to reform pay to try to end general strike

By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon is to introduce a new pay scale for government workers to try to end a general strike now in its fifth week in the Central African oil producer. But an official representing 50 unions said they would refuse the government's proposal because it falls short of their demands for a tripling of the minimum wage and pension reform. Gabon's health, education and other state services have been hit hard by the strikes that began on Feb. 9. There are no signs yet the strike has hit the country's 230,000 barrel per day oil production, although a separate strike in December led to output cuts. The opposition, which is seeking to capitalise on signs of discontent ahead of a presidential election next year, accuses the government of reneging on earlier promises on pay reform. Protests in the capital against a range of social grievances in December turned violent and a protester was killed. President Ali Bongo was elected in a disputed vote in 2009 following the death of his long-ruling father Omar Bongo and has pledged to diversify the economy away from oil and spread wealth more fairly in the former French colony. The government, a major employer, did not specify how much salaries would increase by but said the minimum wage would not be changed with the adoption of a new pay scale. Workers who continue to strike after the reform takes effect in July or August would face pay deductions, government spokesman Alain Claude Bilie Bi Nzé said. Unions are seeking to treble the minimum wage to 300,000 CFA francs ($490) a month. Jean Remy Yama, a spokesman for Unitary Dynamic, representing the unions participating in the strike, called the government measure an "empty gesture". Analysts say that a revision of the minimum wage - already one of the highest in the region - would undermine attempts to trim government spending following a sharp dive in the price of oil, Gabon's biggest export. "An increase in salaries goes against everything Bongo is trying to do in terms of bringing down government spending," said Francois Conradie, political analyst at NKC Independent Economists. "But it could be a question of political survival." Gabon plans to revise its 2015 budget and cut spending on goods, services and fuel subsidies following the oil price drop, the International Monetary Fund said last month, although details of the new budget have not yet emerged. ($1 = 612.0000 CFA francs)