The French High Commissioner in French Polynesia has declined calls to intervene in a strike at the port of Papeete.
The stoppage has affected operations for more than a week and efforts to settle the conflict have been unsuccessful.
The dispute is centered on workers' demands for more safety.
The president, Gaston Flosse, had told local television that the High Commissioner should do something as a small group of strikers is taking the country prisoner.
According to the local newspaper, there have been four fatal accidents in the port in five years.
Despite the strike, port workers have released a number of containers with perishable goods in them.
