Whether unions in New Zealand (NZ) are still useful is a debated question. Logic suggests that they provide the necessary balance of power between employers and employees, so they will always be considered beneficial. Conversely, changes over time mean they are not as valued as New Zealand's avenues of representation have changed to accommodate new characteristics appearing in the workforce. This essay will explain the ideology behind this theory, outline the evidence in support of it, but also lay out the arguments against it by showing unions changing roles, levels of unionization, and the reasons that influence decisions to join or not. It will demonstrate that although time has altered aspects of trade unions, trade unions in New Zealand today remain useful to employees in having their voices heard and represented. New Zealand's industrial relations have developed through the protection of the employment relationship through government-passed acts, notably the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration (IC&A) Act. This is fundamental to New Zealand's employment relations and gives unions the right to organize and negotiate collectively with employers, as well as produce bonuses, wages and manage disputes (Bryson, 2011c). Trade unions were traditionally “a continuing association of wage earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the condition of their employment” (Webb & Webb, 1894, cited in Bryson, 2011b, slide 7). Their function was to promote compassionate management procedures, equal bargaining power between employers and employees, and the introduction of fairness and democracy in the workplace (Bryson, 2011a). Union activity in this period tended to focus on national bargaining for industrial groups (Geare, 1983, cited in Haynes, 2005), with their role seen as wage bargaining and in... middle of paper... .om http://blackboard.vuw.ac.nzDepartment of Labour. (2004). Union Member Return Report 2010. Retrieved from http://ers.govt.nz/Haynes, P. (2005). Fill the void? The voice of non-union employees in Auckland's hospitality industry. Employee Relations, 27(3), 259-271.Mackey, K. (Ed.). (2008). Human resource management: contemporary perspectives in New Zealand. NSW, Australia: McGraw-Hill New Zealand Trade Union Council. (2010). Campaigns and publications. Retrieved from http://union.org.nz/Tolich, P., & Harcourt, M. (1999). Why do people join unions? A case study of the New Zealand Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union. New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 24(1), 63-73. Wallace, J. (2003). Trade Unions in the 21st Century Ireland – Entering the Ice Age? Industrial press conference, “No vision, no future?” (pages 1-14). Ireland: University of Limerick.