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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Employment Relations Act 2000

Strikes and lockouts - Interpretation

81: Meaning of strike

You could also call this:

“This explains what workers do when they stop working or slow down because they're unhappy with their job.”

In this law, a strike means when a group of workers who work or used to work for the same employer or different employers do certain things together. These things can include:

  • Stopping work completely or partly, or not doing their usual work as well as they normally would
  • Not going back to work after they’ve stopped
  • Breaking the agreements they have with their employers
  • Not accepting work they usually do
  • Doing less work or working more slowly than usual

For it to be a strike, the workers need to have agreed to do these things together, even if they didn’t say it out loud or write it down.

But not everything that looks like a strike is actually a strike. The law says that when workers have a meeting that their employer, their work agreement, or this law allows, it’s not a strike.

When the law talks about ‘to strike’, it means to be part of a strike.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM59966.

Topics:
Work and jobs > Worker rights
Business > Industry rules
Previous

80: Object of this Part, or

“This part explains when workers can stop work and when bosses can stop workers from working, and how to give notice about these actions.”

Next

82: Meaning of lockout, or

“Lockout is when a boss stops work to make workers agree to what the boss wants”

Part 8 Strikes and lockouts
Interpretation

81Meaning of strike

  1. In this Act, strike means an act that—

  2. is the act of a number of employees who are or have been in the employment of the same employer or of different employers—
    1. in discontinuing that employment, whether wholly or partially, or in reducing the normal performance of it; or
      1. in refusing or failing after any such discontinuance to resume or return to their employment; or
        1. in breaking their employment agreements; or
          1. in refusing or failing to accept engagement for work in which they are usually employed; or
            1. in reducing their normal output or their normal rate of work; and
            2. is due to a combination, agreement, common understanding, or concerted action, whether express or, as the case requires, implied, made or entered into by the employees.

              1. In this Act, strike does not include an employees' meeting authorised—

              2. by an employer; or
                1. by an employment agreement; or
                  1. by this Act.

                    1. In this Act, to strike means to become a party to a strike.

                    Compare
                    • 1991 No 22 s 61
                    Notes
                    • Section 81(1)(b): amended, on , by section 6 of the Employment Relations (Secret Ballot for Strikes) Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 37).