Legislated Apathy: Industrial Relations in New Zealand Agriculture

Abstract

Farm workers are the largest group of unorganised employees in New Zealand; but the 20,000 career farm workers could form one of the nation's largest trade unions. The absence of trade unions in agriculture and the consonant lack of collective regulation of conditions of employment has had major consequences for employer-employee relations in the industry and is a major gap in New Zealand industrial relations. The Agricultural Workers Act 1977 provides, for the first time, conciliation and arbitration arrangements, but continues the long established bias against the development of viable farm worker organisations.