Registered Interest: Industrial Reglations and the 'Neglect Deimension' of Registration in the Meat and Waterfront Industries

Abstract

Despite the centrality of registers to the arbitration system in New Zealand, very little work has been done on the role of registers in state-society relationships, and in the structuration of actors and interests in specific industries. This paper uses registers in examining the industrial relations processes and outcomes in two major industries - meat processing and the waterfront which historically have been central to NZ as a small state in a world market. Our paper focuses on what we call the 'neglected dimension' of registration – registration systems that operated outside the industrial relations (i.e. arbitration) system per se, but had considerable industrial relations consequences. Our argument is that in the meat and waterfront industries these registers were as important, if not more important, for industrial relations than the conventional arbitration system registers, surviving both changes in technology and the law. The focus will thus be on the 'unintended consequences' of the specific form of registration scheme that was institutionalised by the State in each industry. Further, in each case, the unintended consequences were central to attempts by state actors to reform the industries. Pressures to reform industrial relations practices in these industries were intertwined with the abolition .of the industry-specific registration schemes. As a result, reform of industrial relations hinged on developments other than the Employment Contracts Act 1991.