The New Zealand Federation of Labour 1937-1987

* Full details below, or you can download a leaflet with this information here (PDF, 114kb).

The Honourable Margaret Wilson, Speaker of the House of Representatives, invites you  to a seminar to mark the 70th anniversary of the formation of the New Zealand Federation of Labour in 1937.

The seminar is being organized by the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the Trade Union History Project.  It is on Friday 9th November 2007.  Registrations close at noon on Monday 5th November (see below).

Venue

Legislative Council Chamber,
New Zealand Parliament
Wellington

Programme

9.45-10.00 Honourable Margaret Wilson, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Opening

10.00-10.45   Emeritus Professor Erik Olssen, History, University of Otago
Trade Union Federation before 1937: workers’ organization, the Trades Union Councils, New Zealand Federation of Labor 1909 and the Alliance of Labour

Morning tea 10.45-11.15

11.15-12.00 Peter Franks, labour historian
The Formation of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, 1937

12.00-12.45  Professor Melanie Nolan, History, Victoria University of Wellington
The New Zealand Federation of Labour and the Walsh Years

Lunch 12.45-1.30

1.30-1.50 Film Presentation, Alex Burton, Manager Education Service, The New Zealand Film Archive, Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua

1.50-2.35 Professor Ray Markey, Employment Relations, AUT University
The Last Decades: The New Zealand Federation of Labour 1967-1987

2.35-3.20 Panel Discussion involving unionists active in the FOL:
From the NZFOL to the NZCTU

Afternoon tea 3.20-3.50?

3.50-4.30 Carol Beaumont, Secretary of the NZCTU and Helen Kelly, President of the NZCTU
The NZCTU: past, present and future

Reconvene for Drinks at the Backbencher

 
Registration

Registrations for the seminar will be closing at 12 noon on Monday the 5th of November.

Full Conference Enrolment   $40.00
Unwaged     $20.00

Payment details

• Direct credit to TUHP bank account
     No. 02-0500-0624127-00

If you pay by direct credit/internet banking, please include your name in the identifying details, AND send an email stating name/contact details/amount/payment date to edwardg@nzctu.org.nz

Prices include GST
NZFOL Seminar
NZCTU
P O Box 6645
Wellington

Or fax to Edward Goode at (04) 385-6051 or email details to edwardg@nzctu.org.nz
 
Timeline

1860s  Formation of the engineers and printers unions, the first unions with ongoing existence
1876  First trades and labour council established in Auckland
1878  Trade Union Act gave unions legal standing
1885  First New Zealand Trades and Labour Congress
1889  Maritime Council formed
1890  Maritime Strike
1894  Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (IC and A) Act gives protection to unions
1908 Federation of Miners formed
1909 Federation of Labor, ‘Red Federation’, formed
1910 Shearers Union launches the Maoriland Worker but loses control to the FOL
1911 FOL membership doubled 6124 to 13971
1912 Labour Disputes Investigation Act
1913 United Federation of Labour formed
 Great Strike
1919  Alliance of Labour formed
1921 IC and A Act amendment to provide for GWO
1921-24 New Zealand Shearers' amalgamated with the AWU
1930  Alliance of Labour’s Open Conference of Industrial Unions in Wellington
1936 IC and A Act amendment restored compulsory arbitration and instituted compulsory unionism
1936  Political Disability Removal Act allowed trade unions, on a majority vote of members, to make grants to a political party
1936 - 1938 Union membership increased threefold rapidly 81,000 to 249,000; union density increased from 16% to 48%
1937 New Zealand Federation of Labour (NZFOL) formed
1939 Emergency Regulations provided for special war suspensions of labour legislation
1950  Militants walk out of NZFOL; form Trade Union Congress (TUC)
1951  Waterfront Lockout
1961  IC and A amendment introduces qualified preference in place of compulsory unionism
1968  Nearly 90% of registered unionists under I C & A Act (proportion had been 70.2% in 1937; 84.1 in 1941; 80.1 in 1945; 70.2 in 1951; 66.9% in 1953; and 89.0 in 1968)
 Nil Wage Order
1971  340605 or 86.3% of trade unionists affiliated to NZFOL
1973  Industrial Relations Act
1987 Labour Relations Act
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) formed
1991  Employment Contracts Act
1993 11 unions from manufacturing, transport and constructions sectors form Trade Union  Federation (TUF)
2000 TUF unions reaffiliated to NZCTU, which represents 86% of all unionists.
 Employment Relations Act