Story: Strikes and labour disputes

Bank staff vote to strike, 1987

Bank staff vote to strike, 1987

From the 1970s, industrial action by ‘white collar’ (professional) workers became more common. In 1987 bank staff crammed the Wellington Town Hall to listen to their union’s president, Angela Foulkes (on stage at right), recommend strike action. Her members then held a secret ballot and voted overwhelmingly in favour of the strike.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference: EP/1987/0936/8
Photograph by Merv Griffiths

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Strikes and labour disputes - The decline of the arbitration system', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/20505/bank-staff-vote-to-strike-1987 (accessed 19 April 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 11 Mar 2010, updated 1 Mar 2016