Support for F.O.L. Chilean boycott

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 14

Support for F.O.L. Chilean boycott

NZPA staff correspondent London The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (1.C.F.T.U.) leaves it to affiliated union organisations to decide the best way to isolate what it sees as dictatorial regimes in Latin America, including Chile, says an I.C.F.T.U. spokesman.

The spokesman, speaking to NZPA from I.C.F.T.U. headquarters in Brussels, said the I.C.F.T.U. executive board last year asked its affiliates, including the New Zealand Federation of Labour, to put more pressure on their governments, particularly those in industrialised countries, with a view to refusing any recognition to these regimes.

The aim was to isolate them at political, economic, and military levels, and deprive them of any kind of trade and economic agreements.

“We want to isolate the regimes but we cannot decide what is the best way to do it,” the spokesman said. “It is not up to us to say, ‘Boycott trade.’ It is up to each of our affiliated organisations to say how they can best follow our guidelines. “The action depends on each country and how they want to implement the executive board’s resolution. It is up to them to find ways and means of implementing it."

The New Zealand Federation of Labour’s position was “fully in line with” the I.C.F.T.U. position, the spokesman said.

“We fully support our affiliates in their action but we do not want to take decisions in their place,” he said. “Our position is very clear. We are for action. It is up to our affiliates to decide what is the best action.”

Mr Alex Kitson, deputy secretary of the big Transport and General Workers Union, who has been closely involved with trade union action against the Chilean regime, said his members tried to stop British goods going to Chile and Chilean goods to Britain when they could.

"But they have most devious ways of getting goods to Chile, like sending them to other countries for transhipping,” he told NZPA.

-He said his members had stopped Hunter aircraft en-

gines being sent to Chile in 1974, “but they sneaked some of them away one night.” “We have the co-operation of engineering workers, transport and road haulage workers, and the dockers and we try to stop trade whenever we get to hear about it,” Mr Kitson said. Mr Kitson, who was in Chile just before President Allende was overthrown, said the T.G.W.U. had not had much help from the previous Conservative government in blocking trade with Chile but a lot from the last Labour government which had stopped arms sales.

“We need to sit down and talk to the Tories again about stopping trade,” Mr Kitson said. “It is difficult in a recession when workers’ jobs are at stake here.”