We report how trade unions and employers initially reacted to the introduction of the statutory recognition procedure in the Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA). Interview data indicate that the ERA and the drift of EU influence have acted to shift employer attitudes towards greater approval of...

Union density in New Zealand at the time of the enactment of the Employment Relations Act 2000 was estimated at 17 per cent meaning that collective bargaining was of marginal importance to the bulk of employees. For this reason it is necessary to reconsider the approach to employment law and in...

In 2010 the NZ Parliament passed an amendment to the Employment Relations Act 2000 (NZ) (ER Act) which purports to exclude a whole class of workers from the definition of ‘employee' in s 6 of the Act. The effect of the amendment in practice is to deny workers who fall within the exemption...

This article considers the New Zealand Court of Appeal's judgment in New Zealand Basing Ltd v Brown, which held that the Employment Relations Act 2000 does not apply to a claim for unfair dismissal by New Zealand-based pilots against a foreign-based airline where the parties have selected a...

What can developing economies learn from the experience of developed economies about how best to regulate unionism and collective bargaining? This paper addresses this question by offering four principles that should guide economic policy on unionism and collective bargaining and then by...

The Employment Relations Act 1999 (ERA) has provided trade unions in the UK with new opportunities for achieving recognition. After a long history of anti-unionism in the offshore oil and gas industry, employers have voluntarily ceded recognition to Trades Union Congress (TUC)-affiliated trade...