New Zealand entered a period of recession during the 1920s. Jobs were scarce, and unions were no longer so confident about challenging either the Arbitration Court or employers. Now, the court was under attack from a different sector. This time it was farmers who challenged the authority of the court, arguing that it kept wages artificially high and imposed unreasonable costs of production on them.
In a time of economic hardship the unions became allies of the arbitration system, and in this they found themselves in league with urban employers who valued the certainty and convenience it offered.
