Trade union bannerIn 1890 New Zealand’s watersiders’, miners’ and seamen’s unions were defeated in the Maritime Strike, but a Liberal government was elected with strong working-class support. In 1894 the Minister of Labour, William Pember Reeves, introduced the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. This established a system of compulsory arbitration between employers and unions which chose to register under the Act.The arbitration systemThe unions, too weak to strike after the defeat of 1890, were happy to accept compulsory arbitration.
