The History and Development of Wage Fixing Legislation in the Private Sector

Abstract

In New Zealand wage fixing was institutionalised at a very early stage in the economic development of the country. New Zealand wanted its workers and employers to be nurtured and controlled by legislation, and wages and conditions of employment and disputes concerning these matters determined within a compulsory system of industrial conciliation and arbitration. Under these procedures the Court of Arbitration in the early period of industrial relations in New Zealand played a very positive part in the determination of the level of wages in the contract of employment.