Changing Structures of Labour Relations in New Zealand

Abstract

An attempt is made to assess changes that have occurred in the New Zealand industrial relations system over the last four years. The relationship between traditional modes of operational practice based on government intervention through the medium of statute law, and the perceptions of change held by employers and trade unions, in response to current legislative restructuring is examined. The analysis of change is located within the larger aims of the current administration, to increase economic efficiencies through the medium of de‐regulation of a range of traditional interventionalist institutions. In this context, current initiatives have to be examined against a range of governmental policies that are still in the process of evolution.