ABSTRACT
This chapter examines key employment and economic shifts which have taken place in New Zealand, and shows how changes in the employment and labor environment have impacted on issues such as job security and unionization nationally. It focuses on an examination of recent economic and employment trends in two regions, West Coast and Southland, which are used as exemplars of nationally and internationally driven economic and employment changes and the localized effects of such changes, including the weakening of unions and labor protection particularly on mono-economy towns. The state's significant withdrawal from many aspects of the economy and its privatization drive spilled over into issues of labor regulation and employment. The role of corporate influence on the restructuring of the economy in relation to labor is telling. Changing union membership serves as a surrogate indicator of the degree to which labor relations have weakened in the country.
