Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between indigenous values and employment law in New Zealand and Australia, with some comparative reference to the position in North America and in relation to international standards.
Since the 1980s, indigenous values have emerged as a dynamic in the first world workplace, particularly in indigenous enterprises, and enterprises and organisations with a strong indigenous element or connection. One manifestation of this is the recent proliferation of indigenous and aboriginal chambers of commerce and business associations in Australasia and North America. The reasons behind the emergence of this dynamic are political, social and, particularly in North America, economic.
On the whole, trade unions have not been the driver of this development, but have responded to it by incorporating it, usually into their own social justice agendas, but also by taking the opportunity to acquire new members. In North America, the advent of the lucrative casino gaming industry onto tribal lands since the 1980s spawned a sudden interest in union organising on reservations, as well as Indigenous resistance to those efforts. In New Zealand and Australia, there has been increased recognition of Indigenous culture in employment agreements and the general law, which largely stems from the social, political and increasing economic influence of Indigenous consciousness.