Labor history of Aotearoa - New Zealand

Working Free? The Origins and Impact of New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act

Announcement of a book by Ellen J. Dannin

The Employment Contracts Act (1991), a key component of the structural reforms that have taken place in New Zealand since 1984, is discussed internationally as a model for designing new labour laws. A bold and radical measure, the Act repudiated collective action and bargaining, rejecting almost a centure of practice, and transformed the unions and workplace relations. In this important book, an American lawyer, who has spent several visits to New Zealand studying labour issues, tells how the ECA was passed, a story of high drama, analyses its performance as labour law, a matter of widespread disagreement; and explores its economic, social and legal impact. Well written and well informed, this book gains rom blending an outsider's perspective with an insider's knowledge of the events, issues and processes. Working Free is a major contribution to the continuing debate about the New Zealand reforms and a study of international significance.

Auckland University Press forthcoming July 1997
University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand