By Pip Hinman
A regional trade union conference of delegates from Pacific Island nations, New Zealand and Australia was held in Brisbane on July 16, hosted by a subsidiary of the ACTU, the South Pacific and Oceanic Council of Trade Unions. SPOCTU describes itself as a sub-regional trade union body of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the Asia and Pacific Regional Organisation.
Trade unionists in the region are planning a coordinated campaign of protest and action against the French tests. They agreed that only under "extreme pressure" would the French government reverse its decision, and that that could occur only if "communities of the major world powers exert enough pressure on their governments to influence that decision".
The meeting resolved to: request that the ICFTU encourage all its affiliates to carry out solidarity actions to support their Pacific Island counterparts; seek and promote through international channels an end to French colonial rule and the independence of New Caledonia and French Polynesia; demand that the French government under the auspices of the United Nations conduct a referendum in French Polynesia on whether or not nuclear testing should be resumed in French Polynesia; and to request that the UN work on finding alternative sources of aid for Pacific nations should the French government withdraw its aid.
There was agreement to support the boycott call of the South Pacific Games in Tahiti this year; to ensure that the nuclear tests are discussed at the next South Pacific Forum meeting; to request that all Pacific members of APEC include the matter at the next APEC meeting; and to urge governments to send non-armed vessels to Moruroa as a statement of solidarity with Greenpeace.
Apart from supporting mobilisations on Hiroshima Day, SPOCTU is urging Pacific unions to interfere with communication and postal services to French embassies and consulates in all Pacific countries and to impede French shipping and aircraft movements throughout the Pacific. A consumer boycott of French products has been urged, including the targeting of French companies in the region which are being requested "to write protest letters to Chirac or face specific boycotts".
Discussion was also held on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, noting that in order for it to be effective, nuclear weapons states must reaffirm their commitment to nuclear disarmament, and a comprehensive test ban treaty must be signed no later than 1996.
In an optimistic vein, the meeting called on Energy Resources of Australia and CRA — the Australian companies involved in the export of uranium to France — to withdraw from their contracts "as an act of solidarity with the nations of the South Pacific". SPOCTU suggested that if the companies refuse (the most likely outcome) the trade union movement "approach the federal government to investigate the cost of withdrawing from the contracts". It also urged the government to ban all new uranium contracts to France.
Green Left Weekly asked Rod Ellis, a spokesperson for SPOCTU, if there had been any discussion about unions working towards a total ban on all mining and export of uranium. He replied negatively and refused to comment any further.
Louis Uregei from the USTKE (Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Kanaks et des Exploites) in Kanaky attended the regional conference and spoke to Green Left Weekly about his union's plans for opposition to the nuclear tests.
The union is participating in a broad anti-nuclear campaign group with NGOs, ecological groups, churches and political parties. The group is planning a demonstration against the tests later this month, although plans have not been finalised due to a general strike that is taking place.
The tactic of boycotting French consumer products is not possible in a French territory such as Kanaky, Uregei said. Coordination with other Pacific nations will continue with a follow-up SPOCTU meeting in Suva, Fiji, at the beginning of August.