It takes two to tango: evidence of a decline in institutional industrial relations in New Zealand

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the attitudes of employers in a de‐regulated institutional industrial relations framework, and whether they are still willing to engage in collective bargaining (CB). Design/methodology/approach – A cross‐sectional survey design using a self‐administered postal questionnaire, seeks information on employers' attitudes to a range of issues. Included are employers within all 17 standard industry classifications used by previous New Zealand researchers. Findings – The paper quite convincingly shows that unless employers are prepared to engage in dialogue with employees or third parties and unless the benefits to be gained from such a dialogue are more widely accepted it is unlikely they will engage in CB. Therefore, involvement would appear to be limited to those areas that do not hinder managerial freedom. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies in New Zealand of employers' attitudes to CB since the 1990s. The paper provides valuable data for policy makers, unions, employers and employment relations researchers.