ABSTRACT
Late nineteenth and early twentieth century New Zealand was characterized by profound social changes, not least among these the entrenchment of a strong culture of unions, labor protection, and social welfare. Mining and harbor unions led the way in successfully pioneering the realization of employment and industrial agreements (Maunder, 2012). In parallel with changes in social welfare provision, this led to the creation of one of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) most egalitarian states by the post-World War Two era (Stanford in Cooke et al., 2014). In parallel, by the 1970s the country had one of the most controlled economies in the OECD. This was not, however, sustained and from the 1980s a series of drastic steps was initiated by government which effectively ‘neoliberalized’ all aspects of government, society, and the economy. This was done with the encouragement of the business sector which argued for greater labor market flexibility leading to a situation where the economy rapidly evolved from one based on ‘control’ to one based on market forces (Roper, 2005; Lattimore and Eaqub, 2011). The net result has been the progressive erosion of the social welfare system, the loss of job protection, the significant weakening of unions, withdrawal of the state from many aspects of the economy and society, and am increased dependence on market forces. The impact of these changes have been felt most strongly in the regions of the country which are either physical isolated from the economic mainstream and/or which depend on a single dominant economic sector and were characterized by the presence of strong, unionized labor movements. In this regard, mining, timber, and manufacturing towns in regions such as Southland and West Coast, which are examined in this chapter, have suffered from the combined effects of the loss of state support, erosion of social welfare, dependence on global market prices, and the weakening or even disappearance of the role which unions played in those towns.
