The South Pacific Oceanic Council of Trade Unions says there is still a lot of work to be done in the Pacific to guarantee workers their rights.
SPOCTU has spent time in Papua New Guinea recently and will be travelling to Tonga this month to help establish a permanent movement there.
While secretary Mike Ingpen says he is encouraged by the growth in some unions, he believes a lot of work needs to be done regarding legislation.
Mr Ingpen says in PNG the laws seems to protect workers although they aren't always implemented.
However he seems it is different in places like the Cook Islands.
"You go back to 1964-type labour ordinances that pre-date independence which are totally out of date and that would be in probably most Pacific countries. Fiji's just updating their labour legislation and in Tonga I don't think they have any. So it differs per country but in most countries the labour legislation needs to be updated."
