Story: Unions and employee organisations

Organising English labourers

Trade union ideas came to New Zealand with British immigrants who left their own country to find better working conditions. This video shows Wendy Pearse of Oxfordshire in southern England, describing how Joseph Arch organised agricultural labourers in the area and encouraged them to emigrate to New Zealand when landowners failed to pay decent wages.

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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Reference: Prone places and crossings [videorecording]. Director/producer Jock Phillips. Wellington: Te Papa Productions, 1997.

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Erik Olssen, 'Unions and employee organisations - Early unions, 1840–1880', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/22249/organising-english-labourers (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Erik Olssen, published 11 Mar 2010