A strike by members of the USTKE union has stopped production at the territory’s only cement plant for nearly a month.
The union accuses Holcim, of abusing its monopoly position.
Our correspondent in Noumea, Claudine Wery, says up to four thousand people in the wider building industry are without work as a result.
She says the strikers had agreed to release some cement to desperate contractors yesterday, but the company turned the empty trucks away at the gate.
