Centre for Labour, Employment and Work. Working and Discussion Papers

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Working and discussion papers from the Centre for Labour, Employment, and Work.

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Open Access
Politicians and the press: industrial issues in party perspective
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1986) Harbridge, Raymond; Roberts, Nigel S.; Edwards, Don
As in Australia, governments in New Zealand have a major investment in the state's industrial relations system. The close relationship between the Labour Party and the trade union movement, however, has been widely perceived as electorally damaging. Consequently, a model is developed postulating that politicians from New Zealand's two main political parties will react to industrial issues in different ways: National politicians will associate themselves with industrial disputes, While Labour politicians will focus instead on policy issues. The model is tested by examining the newspaper reports of politicians commenting on industrial issues, and the main hypotheses are borne out by the data.
Open Access
Japanisation or a New Zealand way?: five years on at Nissan New Zealand
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1993) Ryan, Rose
In 1987, negotiations over collective agreements at the Nissan motor vehicle assembly plant at Wiri in South Auckland sparked off a major industrial dispute which resulted in a ten-week strike by a number of the workers employed at the plant. At heart was the introduction of the 'Nissan Way'. While traditionally, the various unions on site (including unions representing engineers, clerical, stores and cafeteria workers) had coordinated in bargaining agreements which operated on top of their respective awards, over the course of 1986/87, philosophical differences between the Engineers, Electrical Workers, and Carpenters Unions, on the one hand, and Stores, Clerical, Cleaners and Hotel Workers Unions on the other, about possible changes in work practices began to open up.
Open Access
Public sector pay fixing in Ireland and New Zealand: towards a theory
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1986) Brosnan, Peter; McCarthy, Charles
The idea for this paper arose from two observations. First, despite the large number published in the of articles on public sector industrial relations last two decades, the scope has been rather narrow. Most are American, concerned with city-level industrial relations and concentrate almost exclusively on police fire fighters and teachers (Lewin et al., 1977). There is a surprising lack of studies at the national government level. There are also few international comparative analyses. The second observation was that, despite many cultural and economic similarities, Ireland and New Zealand represent two polar cases as far as industrial relations systems were concerned. In the private sector, Ireland has a strongly voluntarist system, while New Zealand has a State administered system based on conciliation and arbitration procedures. By contrast, in the public sector, Ireland has a conciliation and arbitration system while the New Zealand system is based on external comparability (i.e. relativity with the private sector). The divergence of the private sector systems is relatively easy to explain and well docunented. (e.g. Roth, 1973; McCarthy, 1977b and Woods, 1963). Originally New Zealand, like Ireland, had had a voluntarist system but the consequences of the disastrous Maritime Strike of 1890, which included the near destruction of the fledgling trade union movement, caused the Liberal Government to enact the conciliation and arbitration Legislation in 1894. Ireland for its part derived its system from the U.K. and, by the time of independence in 1922, the voluntarist tradition was well established.
Open Access
Plus ca change…: the Employment Contracts Act and non-standard employment in New Zealand, 1991-1995
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1996) Brosnan, Peter; Walsh, Pat
The aim of this paper is to analyse changes in non-standard employment in New Zealand between 1991 and 1995 using data from workplace surveys conducted in May 1991 and May 1995. Analysis of the data allows some assessment of competing claims about the impact of the Employment Contracts Act (ECA) 1991 on the size and composition of the non-standard labour force. The ECA came into effect in May 1991, the same month in which this survey was first applied.
Open Access
The way we were - a survey of the last wage round negotiated under the Industrial Relations Act 1973
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1988) Harbridge, Raymond
At a relatively early stage in the 1986 - 1987 wage round the Minister of Labour was able to comment that the Government's objectives were being met. These objectives included the "downward trend in real wage settlements which was "good for the economy", a developing management style that reflected a growing sophistication in management and that the settlements themselves had been freely reached". The Minister concluded : The progress in the 1986 - 1987 wage round shows that we are achieving_liberalisation and reform in the labour market without destruction of labour market institutions and without any Government assault on the unions (Rodger, 1987) Evidently however, such progress was not sufficient as in 1987, the Government introduced their wide ranging reforms to New Zealand's private sector labour relations system following a review of the then system (Department of Labour 1985, 1986a, 1986b). The policy changes sought have been implemented through the replacement of the Industrial Relations Act 1973 (IRA) with the Labour Relations Act 1987 (LRA). Much of the thrust of the legislated change encourages the development of industry bargaining rather than craft bargaining. This implies the development of industry unions to replace New Zealand's predominantly craft based union structure, and the end of the so-called "national award system" where predominantly craft or occupationally based awards would determine minimum pay rates across different industries.
Open Access
Award, agreement or nothing?: a review of the impact of the Labour Relations Act 1987 on collective bargaining
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1991) Harbridge, Raymond; McCaw, Stuart
The Labour Relations Act 1987 introduced the principle that employment conditions be set by just one set of negotiations, effectively eliminating the practice of second tier bargaining. The choice before unions was to either consolidate award coverage, or to remove employers from awards, and negotiate separate agreements with them. The process for doing this became known as 'citing out'. This research reports on the success of this process during the first three wage rounds under the Labour Relations Act. The results indicate that only a very small number of New Zealand's employers were cited out, and by only one quarter of the country's registered unions. The authors conclude that the union movement's decision to entrench itself in the award system has left it poorly prepared to deal effectively with the deregulated regime ushered in with the passing of the Employment Contracts Act 1991.
Open Access
Workers' participation at the workplace: some European experiences with reference to the New Zealand case
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1986) Vranken, Martin
Conciliation and arbitration are the corner-stones of the New Zealand system of industrial relations. That system is based on the philosophy that both sides of industry represent different interests that are in opposition to each other. The apparent potential for disruption is perceived to be so great that the two parties must be compelled in the public interest can come together and negotiate under the aegis of the State. This then represents an adversarial approach to industrial relations and is in direct contrast to the concept of workers' participation which is based on the assumption that there exist certain common interests between labour and management. Now it is undoubtedly true that it is power relations that underlie labour relations. Any system of industrial relations gives indeed an ever evolving answer to the question who in the labour/management relations has, in law and in fact, the power to make decisions. And obviously, management decisions can be influenced by labour in many different ways or dimensions. Traditionally, this idea of industrial democracy has been predominantly expressed in the form of collective bargaining in most industrialised countries. The system of collective bargaining, or award negotiation as ii evolved in New Zealand, is however severely handicapped in establishing harmonious industrial relations in that it handles exclusively matters of conflicting interest between labour and management. The result is a paradoxical situation in which a formal system has been designed to eliminate conflict and yet hundreds of industrial conflicts are being generated each year. In this paper it will be argued that, because of the function of workers' participation in stressing and even promoting commonality of interests, there is a good reason for its reception in New Zealand and the European experiences in this respect can be benefitted from.
Open Access
The dilemmas of governance: state-building and industrial relations in the public sector
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1991) Walsh, Pat
The dilemma I would like to talk about today is a very old one, and it bedevils, I think, all governments. How are they to reconcile their twin roles as legislator and employer? In what way and to what degree should governments - and by governments I mean politicians - involve themselves directly - and directively - in industrial relations and personnel procedures and practices in the state sector? Should they make use of their powers as sovereign legislator to impose a particular bargaining regime upon their employees? Should governments use the coercive power of the state to impose actual conditions of employment upon state employees? Should politicians intervene directly in the appointment, promotion and disciplining of public servants?
Open Access
Workplace change and workplace level labour-management relations in the Canadian public service
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 2001) Lonti, Zsuzsanna
This paper examines the extent of union participation in workplace change at Canadian government workplaces from the point of view of middle management. It analyzes information from a representative survey of government managers carried out in five Canadian jurisdictions. It describes the extent of workplace change that happened in Canadian governments at the end of the 1990s and looks at the role of unions in those changes. A major finding is that public sector unions play a very limited role in workplace changes. Meetings with management at the workplace level are ad hoe, and there are almost no joint union-management initiative operating at the workplace level. Even when joint initiatives exist, unions are confined to having the right to information. In most of these joint committees management shares information with the union. Using various theories explaining union-management co-operation, I conclude that the Jack of union involvement in workplace change could be a rational decision both from the unions' and management's point of view. However this lack of co-operation might also jeopardize the sustainability of new workplace practices. As Canadian governments fiscal problems ease and more financial resources are available, the conditions for better union-management co-operation might improve.
Open Access
Collective bargaining coverage in New Zealand: the early effect of new legislative arrangements
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1991) Harbridge, Raymond
A new piece of labour law in New Zealand, the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA), has radically altered collective bargaining arrangements. The Act completes a process begun back in the 1970s. That process has introduced a new system of industrial relations in New Zealand - one that Boxall (1990) in a comprehensive review of these changes has described as "New Zealand Wagner". The central thrust of the changes has been to introduce voluntarism to all aspects of collective bargaining, removing all elements of compulsion from the industrial relations system. Gone are mechanisms that have supported or enabled compulsory unionism, compulsory arbitration of unsettled interest disputes, and compulsory conciliation as the process by which bargaining was undertaken. Also gone is the mechanism by which conciliated settlements could be "extended" to employers and workers who had not been party to the original negotiations.
Open Access
Race, gender and wage flexibility in New Zealand: 1984/85 - 1987/88
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1989) Brosnan, Peter; Harbridge, Raymond
A stated aim of New Zealand employers and the Government, at the present time, is to produce a diversity of pay settlements in the New Zealand labour market. Previous work by the second author has demonstrated that such a diversity is being achieved, and indeed that this diversity is relatively independent of attempts to "free up the labour market" (Harbridge and McCaw 1989a). Given the wide range of pay settlements, it is possible that those who are currently in the more favoured segments of the labour market will enjoy large pay increases while those who are least advantaged will receive smaller increases. In this paper we set out to examine whether this has been occurring. We use estimates of comparative wage movement in registered awards over the period 1984/85 to 1987 /88, between different industries and occupations to produce estimates of the relative movements in the earnings by gender and ethnicity.
Open Access
Surveyed and registered unemployed
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1986) Brosnan, Peter
The Department of Statistics' Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) provides an important addition to the set of unemployment statistics. In addition to the Department of Labour's data on registered unemployed, the Department of Social Welfare's data on unemployment benefit and the five-yearly census enumeration, we now have quarterly estimates from the survey. What is more, these conform to the ILO recommendations on unemployment statistics. One might have expected that the survey data would replace the Department of Labour's registration data as the quoted unemployment statistics.
Open Access
When is 3 plus 1 equal to 3.25?: suggested methods of examining wage settlements, to determine their annual rate of adjustment
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1988) Brosnan, Peter; Harbridge, Raymond
A key issue in the current debate over labour market "flexibility" is the extent to which there is a dispersion of wage settlements. Determining the degree of dispersion is no easy task. Harbridge (1988) found that 13 percent of the documents negotiated in the 1986-87 wage round had terms other than 12 months with a range from 3.5 to 17.5 months. When these shorter or longer term documents are reported by the press, or by union or employer advocates, they are frequently quoted as annual rates. Convening increases which run for periods other than 12 months into annual rates is not as simple as it sometimes appears. For example, 6 percent for 6 months is not the same as 12 percent for 12 months. Also, how should we treat a document such as the clothing workers, quoted at the head of this note, which has 2 increases and a 15 month term? Another complication arises if the increase provided by a new document is not backdated to the expiry of the old one.
Open Access
Labour market segmentation and the state: the New Zealand experience
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1991) Brosnan, Peter; Rea, David; Wilson, Moira
This paper analyses the role of the State in the historical process of labour market segmentation. The paper reviews the existing segmentation literature, and also develops a framework to understand the State's role in segmentation. The New :zealand labour market is then used as an example of the State's role in the process of labour market segmentation.
Open Access
Bargaining and worker representation under New Zealand's Employment Contracts legislation [i.e. legislation]: a review after two years
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1993) Harbridge, Raymond; Hince, Kevin
Prior to 1984 economic and industry policy in New Zealand was dominated by state regulation and centralised control. Moreover, welfarism and state socialism played a significant role in counterbalancing private economic and market power. Since 1984 deregulation, decentralisation and free market, laissez-faire, economics have been the norm, pursued and applied with vigour by both Labour Party and National Party governments. Corporatisation and privatisation of state trading agencies, elimination of rural and manufacturing industry subsidies, a programme of tariff reduction, floating exchange rates, and financial markets opened to full internal and international competition, have been but part of these thrusts. Reform of the tax system (a major shift of emphasis from direct to indirect taxation), major increases in applying user-pays policies and targeted support concepts to government produced economic and social goods (especially in health and education) have occurred. Corporate management philosophies, structures and processes have been grafted onto a reorganised and drastically reduced public service.
Open Access
Change in New Zealand workplaces: love in a cold climate
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1995) Ryan, Rose
In recent years, the workplace has been increasingly important as a focus of industrial relations activity and theory for a variety of reasons. A significant part of this increased focus has been the attention paid to the reorganisation of work and industrial relations processes that has been noted in a number of countries (Appelbaum and Batt, 1994; Frenkel, 1994; Katz, 1993; Mathews 1989, 1994). A variety of explanations has been put forward to explain these changes, ranging from the hypothesis of the emergence of a new industrial divide similar in significance to the emergence of indusnialism in the early part of the twentieth century (Piore and Sabel, 1984), to more modest explanations based on association of changes in work organisation with the decentralisation of collective bargaining (Katz, 1993). In addition, discussion of changes has involved an active debate over the extent and significance of change, and the consideration of who actually benefits from it.
Open Access
Trade union secretaries' surnames: countries of origin
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1986) Brosnan, Peter
A political satirist recently wrote of the FoL Conference: "You are immediately conscious ... of the wide racial range of delegates represented. The predominant groupings appear to be Maori, Pakeha and Irish" (Welch, 1986, p 13). This comment, if it is to be taken seriously, could hardly refer to persons of Irish birth. It could however be interpreted to mean persons of Irish ancestry. The role of Irish persons or persons of Irish descent in New Zealand unions has not been documented but in examining the names of the secretaries of registered unions of workers and employers for another purpose (Brosnan, Walsh and Rowe, 1985) we could not help but notice the plethora of Celtic names among the secretaries of workers unions and the relative dearth among the secretaries of employer unions.
Open Access
Legislative change and New Zealand industrial relations: responses to a market ideology
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1988) Hince, Kevin; Vranken, Martin
A Labour Government was elected in New Zealand in July 1984. That Labour Government had firm historic links to the democratic socialist tradition and to the trade union movement. Despite this background; the fabric of economic and social policymaking since its election has been based on that of a free market ideology. The Government has put in place the most substantial changes in labour law since the early 1970. These changes have taken place within the context of significant deregulation of product and financial markets. Fundamental changes in tax policy (including the introduction of a VAT-type indirect tax), corporatisation of trading arms and government departments and a campaign directed towards increasing labour market flexibility. The paper will describe and analyse the changes in labour law which have occurred in the period since July 1984, including the background to the changes, the process of change, the details of the changes, and a preliminary assessment of the effects of changes and the prospects for the future.
Open Access
Trade unionism in Fiji in 1990: after twenty years of independence and two military coups
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1990) Hince, Kevin
The colonial administration in Fiji had encouraged the development and operation of trade unions in Fiji throughout the period from 1940 to independence in 1970. However, it was conditional encouragement and support. Craft and general unions were to be eschewed in favour of development on industry lines. Craft unions, based on the historic experience of the United Kingdom, were held to be the basis of fragmentation and demarcation. General unions had the potentiality of scale to provide a base for the development of general political opposition. Unions were expected to conform to a regulatory environment imposing standards of democratic operation and financial accountability based on those of the metropolitan power. Registration was the technical device of control used to these ends. Failure to meet the requisite standards of operation and reporting was the most frequent administrative technique used by government to impose its values on unions and union leadership. Except for a brief period in the early 1960s, unionism, in general, established a multi-racial character, albeit within the limits imposed by the absence of multi-racial employment in some industries. In this instance, colonial policy re-enforced a value that had developed independently within the emergent trade union movement. Unionism avoided direct links with either of the two competing, and racially based, political parties.
Open Access
The emperor's new clothes: the uncertain fate of equal employment opportunities in the New Zealand public sector, 1988-92
(Victoria University of Wellington. Industrial Relations Centre, 1993) Walsh, Pat; Dickson, John
This paper reflects on progress, or lack of it, in the advancement of equal employment opportunities in the public sector in New Zealand. This is not a prescriptive paper. It does not set out to identify a set of best EEO practices, nor to provide a comparative repon card on the fate of EEO in the organisations from which the material for the paper is drawn. It does not even, at least not consciously, attempt to draw conclusions about the future direction of EEO in the public sector; although it may contribute towards debate about that question. Rather, the aim of this paper is to analyse the development of EEO as a political and industrial issue in the public sector since the early 1980s. It is an effon to understand how the issue of EEO unfolded over time, the manner in which it acquired both political and industrial resources, and the process by which it lost them. It is also an effort to understand the bit in the middle - the programmes which were established in the salad days when EEO appeared to be becoming entrenched in the management of government departments.