Change of focus for newly-named research centre
The changing nature of work and employment will be a major research focus for the newly named Centre for Labour, Employment and Work (CLEW), based in the School of Management at Victoria Business School.
The changing nature of work and employment will be a major research focus for the newly named Centre for Labour, Employment and Work (CLEW), based in the School of Management at Victoria Business School.
The Centre was launched at a function last week, attended by a range of people from government organisations, the legal profession, the judiciary, trade unions and the business community.
It is a further development of the Industrial Relations Centre, which has operated for 43 years at the University, and many of those attending have had a long association with the Centre under its previous name.
Dr Stephen Blumenfeld, the CLEW Director, commented on the changing environment for work and employment.
"The changing environment for work and employment means that the relationships between employers and employees, and how people organise their work and employment relationships, has changed dramatically since 1970," noted Dr Blumenfield.
"The term industrial relations gave way to employment relations, and now we have different forms of 'employment' that are being lumped into 'atypical' or 'non-standard' work."
Dr Blumenfeld says that although the Industrial Relations Centre had continually adapted and changed the research it undertook, its name had not truly reflected the breadth of research interests.
"We will continue to have collective bargaining and union membership as a core area of research and public education, but research into the dynamics of the workplace and how workplaces can best be managed and structured to be productive and healthy workplaces is now emerging as a major focus."
Dr Blumenfeld gave the example of the Centre’s partnership with the Public Service Association to survey 49,000 PSA members, with 16,000 of these responding.
"This database is a rich source of data on how public service employees experience work, and how the organisational structures and management practices affect their experiences and ability to do their job."
Speakers at the launch included Paul Mackay from Business New Zealand and Glenn Barclay from the NZ Public Service Association, and both welcomed the expanded range of research that the Centre is intending in its new programme.
Paul Mackay emphasised the importance of better understanding the skill required to help New Zealand have a strong and productive economy.
Glenn Barclay welcomed the broader focus on employment and work to look at 'precarious' work and the new employment relationships.
Both acknowledged the work of the Centre in the past, and the importance of the Industrial Relations Centre over many years through its longitudinal research on collective bargaining and union membership.