Are unions still meaningful in the modern workplace?
Dr Stephen Blumenfeld, director of the Centre for Labour, Employment and Work, was interviewed on TVNZ about the current relevance of unions in New Zealand.
Are unions still relevant in New Zealand? This was the question posed to Dr Stephen Blumenfeld, director of the Centre for Labour, Employment and Work (CLEW), in a recent interview broadcast on TVNZ.
In the YouTube footage above, interviewer Hillary Barry asks whether unions are still meaningful in the modern workplace, given that far fewer workers in New Zealand are members of trade unions than was the case 50 or 100 years ago.
Dr Blumenfeld says that numbers have remained static since the removal of compulsory union membership, covering about one in five workers. He also comments about union activities that are both supporting and attracting new members amongst New Zealand youth.