Skip to main content

Kōrero: Unions and employee organisations

Breaching a preference clause

Image
Breaching a preference clause

The compulsory arbitration system enabled unions to enforce ‘preference’ clauses in their awards (minimum wages and working conditions). Under a preference clause, union members had to be given first choice of available jobs. This Dunedin hotel-keeper has been fined for employing a barman without consulting the union.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past

Reference: Evening Post, 21 March 1912, p. 8

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

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Erik Olssen, Unions and employee organisations – Reviving the unions, 1890–1913, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/22261/breaching-a-preference-clause (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Erik Olssen, i tāngia i te 4 February 2010.