MEMBERS of Solomon Islands Trade Union (SICTU) have welcomed their colleagues from across Oceania during a dinner held at the National Auditorium on Sunday night.
The guests included representatives from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and the Pacific Islands Council of Trade Unions (PICTU), who are in Honiara for the Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting (PLMAM) 2025.
Hosted by the Government of Solomon Islands, the PLMAM 2025 is being held at three different venues this week.
The closed Forum Island Countries (FIC) Caucus took place on Monday at the Heritage Park Hotel, while the PLMAM Employer Forum was also held on Monday at the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Conference Room.
From Tuesday 4th to Thursday 6th November, the main PLMAM proceedings will take place at the Aquatic Centre in East Honiara.
General Secretary of the Solomon Islands Public Employees Union (SIPEU), Robert Au, said PICTU will deliver an intervention on behalf of all Pacific unions during the main meeting this week.
Au also revealed that a side meeting will be held at the Mendana Hotel on Wednesday to launch the Public Services International (PSI) Health Report.
He said the 89-page report is the outcome of a study on workers’ health across the Pacific, including Solomon Islands.
“It is an 89-page report that is going to be launched,” Au said.
PSI is a global union federation representing 30 million workers in 700 trade unions across more than 150 countries.
It advocates for workers’ rights, trade union freedoms, and universal access to quality public services, and represents workers’ voices at international bodies such as the UN, ILO, and WHO.
Meanwhile, the FIC Caucus is limited to Pacific Island countries that have signed the PACER Plus Arrangement on Labour Mobility (ALM). The PLMAM Employer Forum is restricted to Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) and Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) employers.
The final day of PLMAM 2025 — Thursday, 6th November — will feature the Pacific Labour Mobility Dialogue, the official gathering of all labour sending and receiving countries to discuss strategic priorities and future directions.
This year’s meeting, themed “Sustainable Reintegration Begins with Fair and Effective Recruitment,” brings together government officials, employers, and worker representatives to promote fair recruitment and sustainable reintegration across Pacific labour mobility programmes.
Organised by the PACER Plus Implementation Unit (PPIU), which also serves as the Labour Mobility Secretariat, PLMAM is the region’s premier platform for collaboration on labour mobility issues.
The 2025 meeting will focus on regional approaches to worker recruitment, selection, pre-departure preparation, mobilisation, welfare, and reintegration — with discussions emphasising fair and ethical practices that ensure lasting benefits for both workers and their communities.
