Bargaining and worker representation under New Zealand's employment contracts legislations: A review after two years

New Zealand has had a long history of state-sponsored trade unionism, with up to 60% of the workforce being employed under the terms and conditions of a union negotiated collective bargain. It had adopted systems of industrial conciliation and arbitration as a means of resolving disputes over wage fixing and related matters. However, 2 major rewrites of legislation, the Labor Relations Act 1987 and the Employment Contracts Act 1991, have made a significant shift in these fundamentals. It is estimated that collective bargaining has fallen by nearly 60% in the 2 years since the Act took effect. Multi-employer bargaining has largely collapsed. Unions lost some 90,000 members in the first 7 months under the new system and an additional 86,000 in the most recent year - an aggregate loss of almost 30% of membership in less than 2 years. If the Employment Contracts Act regime continues, further fragmentation of unions may occur and collective bargaining will continue to collapse.