Union Growth and Concentration Revisited

Abstract

The first study of trade union growth and the concentration of union membership in New Zealand covered the period from 1900 to 1966. In the last decade or so, certain changes have taken place that should have had a direct impact on the trends observed in the previous study. The present review, therefore, has a number of objectives. The first and obvious one is to provide statistical information on growth and concentration up to 1979; the review can simply be seen as an excuse to update existing information. Secondly, and more importantly, it is necessary to examine in detail the impact on growth and concentration trends of legislative changes and a more positive attitude inside the labour movement to union amalgamation since 1966.