History
Employment Court - History
A specialist industrial relations court has been in existence in New Zealand since 1894. The Employment Court and its predecessors, have their foundations in the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894. The introduction of this legislation dramatically changed the structure of trade unionism and altered the interaction between employees, employers and the state.
Against the backdrop of low wages, unemployment, the arrival of trade unionism, New Zealand's first labour dispute and government debt, the need for a formalised industrial relations system gained momentum. The system of conciliation and compulsory arbitration was promoted as a method of preventing industrial strife and solving industrial disputes peacefully.
The catalyst for a formal system was William Pember Reeves, New Zealand's and the world's first Minister of Labour, from 1892 - 1896. Reeves, a member of the newly formed Liberal Government, and a Fabian socialist, introduced legislation in 1891 providing for a compulsory conciliation and arbitration system for resolving industrial disputes. Reeves' initiatives culminated in the passing of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894.
The Employment Court as it exists today can trace its origins through various institutional forms enacted by a succession of legislation to the Court of Arbitration established by the 1894 Act.
