New Zealand

Organization responsible for the statistics

The statistics are collected by the Department of Labour and compiled and published by the Department of Statistics.

Objectives and users

Not available.

Coverage

Strikes and lockouts

The statistics cover:

constitutional or official strikes
unofficial strikes
sympathetic strikes
political or protest strikes
general strikes
lockouts
rotating or revolving strikes
working to rule
go-slows
overtime bans
sit-ins
load-out bans
unauthorised stop-work meetings
delays in resuming work after authorised stop-work meetings.

Prior to 1980, work stoppages not directly related to terms and conditions of employment, or where a demand was made of a third party, were not included.

Minimum threshold

for complete stoppages and lockouts: at least 10 days not worked
for partial stoppages: the number of workers involved multiplied by the duration should be more than 10 days not worked

Economic activities

Prior to 1988, public sector stoppages (including state-owned enterprises) were not included in the statistics. Previously, statistics on work stoppages related only to the private sector. Both private and public sectors are now subject to the Labour Relations Act.

Workers

Workers directly involved and workers indirectly involved. As well as regular paid employees, including part-time workers, the statistics cover temporary, casual and seasonal workers and workers laid off. Unpaid family workers and workers absent on sick leave or annual leave, or absent for any other reason are not included.

No particular occupational groups are excluded.

Geographic areas

Whole country.

Types of data collected

number of strikes and lockouts
number of workers involved
duration
time not worked
estimated loss of wages
cause of stoppage
type of dispute
method of achieving return to work
method of settlement of substantive issue
industry sector (private, public or state-owned enterprise)
nature of stoppage
locality of stoppage
type of stoppage (complete, partial, lockout)
employer number
industry code (NZSIC)
union membership of workers involved

Concepts and definitions

Work stoppage

Those disputes which result in a strike or a lockout or in which organized go-slow, or refusal to work overtime or other passive resistance methods are clearly manifested and includes unauthorised stopwork meetings as well as unauthorised delays in resuming work after recognised stopwork meetings. A single stoppage may include, or consist of, one or more stoppages or stopwork meetings held at different places or at different times concerning the same issue.

Strike

The act of any number of workers who are or have been in the employment of the same employer or of different employers:

in discontinuing that employment, whether wholly or partially, or in reducing the normal performance of it; or
in breaking their contracts of service; or
in refusing or failing after any such discontinuance to resume or return to their employment; or
in refusing or failing to accept engagement for any work in which they are usually employed; or
in reducing their normal output or their normal rate of work;

the said act being due to any combination, agreement, common understanding, or concerted action, whether express or implied, made or entered into by any workers; but does not include a union meeting allowed under this Act or authorised by an employer.

Lockout

The act of an employer

in closing the employer's place of business, or suspending or discontinuing the employer's business or any branch thereof; or
in discontinuing the employment of any workers, whether wholly or partially; or
in breaking some or all of the employer's contracts of service; or
in refusing or failing to engage workers for any work for which the employer usually employs workers;

with a view to compelling any workers, or to aid another employer in compelling any workers to accept terms of employment or comply with any demands made by the employer.

The definitions of a strike and a lockout come from the Labour Relations Act 1987.

Methods of measurement

Strikes and lockouts

The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike or lockout is the case of dispute. The continuation of a strike or lockout that is interrupted but later resumes, still due to the same case of dispute, is counted as the same strike or lockout.

Work stoppages resulting from the same case of dispute and occurring simultaneously or at different times, in establishments of the same or different enterprises, are referred to as a series, and are counted as one strike or lockout, which is recorded and published in the period at which the last stoppage in the series ended.

Workers involved

The number of workers involved is the maximum number of workers that took part during the course of the stoppage, even if some workers participated for only part of the duration. Part-time workers are counted as individuals on the same basis as full-time workers.

Duration

The duration is measured in workdays from the date the strike or lockout began in the first economic unit involved up to the date it terminated in the last one, excluding workdays on which there was no work stoppage in any economic unit over the same issue.

Time not worked

Total time not worked is measured in workdays, by ascertaining the total amount of time not worked on each day of the strike or lockout and summing these totals. Time not worked is measured for all workers involved, whether directly or indirectly. The shorter working hours of part-time workers are not taken into account, nor is overtime.

Classifications

Cause of dispute

negotiation of wages and conditions
special payments
hours of work
leave or holidays
supervisory matters
work allocation and manning levels
safety and health
working conditions
promotion, recruitment, etc.
sympathy
demarcation
choice of union
managerial practice
application of conditions of award
other union matters
five categories of personal grievance: discrimination, harassment, duress, disadvantage, dismissal
redundancy
other, not elsewhere classifiable

Outcome of dispute

return to work with no negotiations taking place
private negotiations between employers and workers alone
negotiations involving unions of workers and/or appropriate employers' associations
intervention of a third party (i.e. Department of Labour, mediators, Federation of Labour, etc.)
other

Method of settlement

further private negotiations
mediation service
disputes procedure
grievance procedure
conciliation proceedings
Labour Court
arbitration commission
Committee of Inquiry
ministerial conference
other
not referred

Branch of economic activity

The statistics are classified by branch of economic activity using the New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (NZSIC). In the case of a general strike, the stoppage is counted once in each industry, then once only in the total.

Duration

1 day or less
over 1 days but not more than 2 days
over 2 days but not more than 3 days
over 3 days but less than 1 week
1 week but less than 2 weeks
2 weeks but less than 4 weeks
4 weeks and over

Reference period and periodicity

The statistics are compiled and published for periods of a month, a quarter, a year and for cumulative periods, from January. They refer to strikes and lockouts ending during the particular reference period, regardless of the commencement date.

Analytical measures

average days not worked per employee involved (published)
average duration (duration divided by number of stoppages) (not published)
average wages lost per person per day (not published)

Historical background of the series

Not available.

Documentation

Series available

Not available.

Bibliographic references

Department of Statistics: NZ Year Book (annual);

Idem: Key statistics (previously Monthly Abstract of Statistics) (monthly);

Idem: Work Stoppages (annual);

Idem: Monthly Information Release (monthly);

Idem: INFOS (Information network for official statistics - computer storage and information system).

Data published by the ILO

The number of strikes and lockouts, the number of workers involved, the number of days not worked and rates of days not worked, by economic activity.

Confidentiality

Not available.

International standards

Not available.

Methods of data collection

There is no legal obligation to report the occurrence of a strike or lockout. However, the employer is required by law to record details of all work stoppages, and, if a request is made by a Department of Labour official, must supply that data. The data are supplied on Records of Work Stoppage forms submitted by employers to the Department of Labour. Information on work stoppages is otherwise obtained from newspaper reports and from voluntary reports.