The rollercoaster ride: recent employment relations changes in New Zealand

Radical employment changes make New Zealand an interesting theoretical and empirical 'case' on how path-breaking adjustment can be achieved within a national economy though whether it has been a successful transformation is still debated by overseas and New Zealand researchers. The article provides an overview of public policy reforms, trends in collective bargaining and union membership, employer strategies and attitudinal changes and some of the highly discussed labour market issues and trends. This overview highlights how far employment relations have shifted since the mid 1980s with public and private sector differences growing and with workplace and individualised arrangements dominating private sector employment relations. It also indicates the negative consequences of having employer-driven flexibility as a driving force for issues surrounding low labour productivity. This alludes to burning labour market such as long working hours, a significant income distribution gap, the 'brain drain', and how work-life balance and stress have become part of media and popular debates. With the current government’s renewed attack on individual employee rights it is concluded that is unlikely that a broadly based employment relations consensus, and thus public policy stability, will be re-established in New Zealand in the near future.