State Intervention and Trade Unions in New Zealand

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Barry ◽  
Pat. Walsh
2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Barry ◽  
Pat Walsh

1966 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 672
Author(s):  
Josephine F. Milburn
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Keating

<p>This thesis investigates the attitudes of New Zealand newspapers to the social and economic tensions exacerbated by the emergence of a newly assertive labour movement in 1890, culminating in the August-November Maritime Strike, and the 5 December General Election. Through detailed analysis of labour reporting in six newspapers (Evening Post, Grey River Argus, Lyttelton Times, New Zealand Herald, Otago Daily Times, Press) this thesis examines contemporary conceptions of New Zealand society and editors’ expectations of trade unions in a colony that emphasised its egalitarian mythology. Although the establishment of a national press agency in 1880 homogenised the distribution of national and international news, this study focuses on local news and editorial columns, which generally reflected proprietors’ political leanings. Through these sites of ideological contest, conflicting representations of the ascendant trade union movement became apparent. While New Zealand newspapers sympathised with the striking London dockers in 1889, the advent of domestic industrial tensions provoked a wider range of reactions in the press. Strikes assumed a national significance, and the divisions between liberal and conservative newspapers narrowed. To varying degrees both considered militant action by organised labour a threat to the colony’s peace and prosperity – sentiments that pervaded their reporting. The New Zealand Maritime Strike confirmed these prejudices and calcified the perception of organised labour’s malevolence. Despite the year’s upheavals, this thesis contends that the press struggled to comprehend labour’s political ambitions, ignoring the unprecedented mobilisation of thousands of new voters, shifting public opinion, and the transformative impact of electoral reform. Distracted by the mainstream political obsession with land reform and convinced that public prejudices, stoked by their own reporting, would obviate a labour presence in the new parliament, the victory of the Liberal-labour coalition confounded the publishing establishment.</p>


Author(s):  
Khrystyna Romanivna Martsikhiv ◽  
Liliia Yevgenivna Horbachova

The concept of «civil society» in modern political science is given. The relevance of its theoretical and practical aspects which is caused by the obvious increase the role of ordinary citizens and their voluntary associations in all spheres of human society: economic, political, social, spiritual, is analyzed. The successes of public organizations and movements of people of good will in the field of detente of international tensions, in providing assistance to peoples affected by natural disasters, catastrophes and other social unrest are widely known. It was established that the basis of victories is the development of civil society, high activity of citizens and their voluntary associations. This is achievable only in a sufficiently developed civil society. It has been proved that success comes where the business activity of citizens and the non-governmental structures they create increases, state intervention in economic, social and spiritual life is limited, where civil society develops and improves. The theoretical and applied aspects of the phenomenon of civil society are comprehended through a theoretical analysis of the concept of civil society in the history of socio-philosophical and political thought, from Plato and Aristotle to the views of modern researchers. It is emphasized that civil society is a type of social system, the hallmark of which is the real multi-subjectivity of economic, social, cultural and political life. The formation and development of civil society in Ukraine during the years of independence is analyzed. It is proved that the formation of civil society is manifested in the formation of its institutions - voluntary public associations, public movements, trade unions, independent media, public opinion as a social institution, elections and referendums as a means of public expression and protection of public-dependent interests. judicial and law enforcement systems, etc. The peculiarities of the interaction of civil society and the rights` state are substantiated.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James E Taylor

<p>In the early 1890s Harry Atkinson, the subject of this thesis, travelled to England and spent a year as foundation secretary of the Manchester and Salford Labour Church. In Manchester Atkinson worked closely with the Churchʼs founder John Trevor, took part in Labour Church services and worked with a variety of British socialist intellectuals and activists including Ben Tillett, Edward Carpenter and Robert Blatchford. Atkinson returned to New Zealand in late 1893 and three years later founded the Socialist Church in Christchurch. This was not a Church in the traditional sense—rather, it was a site for the debate, discussion and dissemination of radical and socialist literature and ideas, and a platform for political agitation and social reform. Its creed was to ‘promot[e] a fellowship amongst those working for the organisation of Society on a basis of Brotherhood and Equality’. Members of the Church included Jack McCullough, James and Elizabeth McCombs and Jim Thorn. The critical, yet downplayed, role that Atkinson played working behind the scenes as an important mentor and conduit in the emergent socialist subculture in Christchurch from 1896 to 1905 has been for the most part unexplored in New Zealand labour historiography. This thesis addresses this imbalance and examines the intellectual and associational activity of Harry Atkinson during the period 1890 to 1905 and reconsiders the work and key concerns of the Christchurch Socialist Church. It argues that the form of ethical socialism Atkinson experienced in Manchester, and later promulgated through the Socialist Church, has been mischaraterised as vague or, inaccurately, Christian Socialist. By situating Atkinson’s beliefs and activities within a wider transnational context of 1890s ‘New Life’ socialism, we can see his ideas and work as part of a broader ‘world of labour’, shaped by multi-directional flows and contacts. The varied networks through which Atkinson was exposed to books and ideas are illustrated and the thesis attempts to trace the diversity of his, and others, associational activity. It suggests that the colonial New Zealand socialism of the 1890s was not ‘without doctrine’, and that individuals engaged in richer intellectual and associational lives than is often acknowledged. However, it is shown that Atkinson and members of the Church, though inspired by foreign or overseas experiences, ideas and literature, focused primarily on local issues. These are also surveyed and include agitation for municipal government, female equality and the radical reform of democratic institutions. It is argued that a reconsideration of the lived experience of Atkinson and his wider circle provides a lens to investigate some important aspects of colonial New Zealand radicalism and socialism, outside the usual foci of trade unions, the workplace and formal labour politics.</p>


Author(s):  
Gaye A. Greenwood ◽  
Carolyn Ward

This case history offers an insiders' view of bringing about change in union bargaining within major New Zealand organizations. While unions play a pivotal role in the day-to-day bargaining of wages and workplace conditions, there has been a significant reduction in union density and membership. In this case, two union leaders narrate how a shift from traditional bargaining to interest-based negotiation enabled participation in organizational change decision-making, built trust in relationships, and increased union membership.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Thompson

The formation of a new coalition government in New Zealand in the wake of the 2017 election ended three terms of National-led governments and raised the prospect of a significant shift in media policy. National had insisted that in the digital media ecology, the funding of public broadcasting institutions was no longer a priority and that platform-neutral contestable funding of local content would ensure the quality and diversity of content. This saw the demise of the TVNZ Charter and its two commercial-free channels (TVNZ 6 and 7), while both Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and the local content funding agency, NZ On Air, had their funding frozen. The 2017 election of the Labour-NZ First-Green government came with the promise of an additional investment of NZ$38m in public media, the expansion of RNZ’s remit to include a commercial-free television channel, and the establishment of an independent commission to assess funding needs for public media. However, the media ecology Labour now faces entails new policy complexities. Deregulation, financialization and convergence have not only intensified commercial pressures on the media, they have led to important shifts in the ways audiences discover and engage with media content. In turn, this complicates the traditional models of state intervention intended to deliver public service outcomes. Adopting a critical institutionalist framework this article will highlight key shifts in media policy trajectory since 1999 and highlight some key differences between the public broadcasting initiatives of 1999–2008 and the approach thus far of the incoming government. The article analyses how competing intra-party and inter-ministerial priorities have circumscribed the media policy options available and thereby highlight the way political–economic interests in the media ecology manifest in public policy.


1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Smith

Industrial democracy and worker participation have become important topics for international debate, with developments taking place in many countries. Despite its former reputation for advances in the social field, little has been heard about developments in worker participation in New Zealand. The aim of the present paper is to report and assess such developments whilst placing these within the context of developments in industrial relations in that country. The strong reliance upon legal arrangements and government intervention in industrial relations matters have had a marked effect upon the development of the industrial relations system in New Zealand. Yet, despite this tradition of legalism, successive governments remain singularly reluctant to legislate in the field of worker participation. Recent initiatives by employers have been strongly unitary in nature, whilst the trade unions appear to be concentrating their efforts upon extending the scope of collective bargaining, an opportunity afforded to them due to recent changes in the law. The present Government's wish that voluntary arrangements between employers and trade unions will eventuate to cover worker participation seems less than pragmatic, since employers, unions and the Government itself differ so fundamentally upon what constitutes worker participation, and the forms it might take.


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