Arbitration: the sheepowners and the shearers

Abstract

In late 1981 I attended the NZ Historical Association's annual conference at Victoria University, and heard a paper given by Jim Holt on the arbitration system in the early years of the 20th century. At the time I was beginning to work my way into the subject of labour history and the crucial role of arbitration, by looking at rural trade unions in particular. I found Jim Holt's paper particularly interesting and remember discussing with him briefly afterwards the extent to which awards were a means of disciplining and controlling workers such as shearers and threshing-mill hands. It is especially pleasing to see that work and his other already published articles coming together in book form at long last I subsequently sent him a paper of my own which he commented on in a letter saying: 'I haven't spent much time on rural workers partly because the most critical episode for the history of arbitration was well covered by Brendan Thompson (in his thesis on the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Labourers' application for an award in 1907-8)." He also suggested that he was pushing forward his research on the arbitration system: "The 1930s I haven't thought about much yet but I am getting there gradually. Am about to work on the 1920s." I found his open and responsive approach welcome indeed.