Trade union membership numbers are up for the fourth year in row. And the number of active unions has doubled since the Employment Relations Act came into force.
A survey by Victoria University’s Industrial Rela tions Centre shows there are now more than 180 unions registered covering about 21.7 percent of wage and salary earners. About 342,000 New Zealanders now belong to unions, rise of 13 percent over the four years to December 2003 and ahead of labour force growth of 11 percent.
Most of the growth is in the public sector, though private sector membership also rose in 2003, according to Centre director George Lafferty.
However, he says the ERA has not helped unions extend collective bargaining – despite that being key objective of the legislation.
Unravelling the complexities of payroll
Management Editorial Team
June 27, 2025
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