ABSTRACT
While the traditional academic field of industrial relations, which focused on union-management relations and collective bargaining, continues to decline, the changing nature of work and employment are of growing interest and significance. This chapter argues that a new contract at work is needed between the social partners to achieve long-term social and economic sustainability. Three pillars on which a new social contract must be built include a commitment to full employment, revitalising university-level as well as vocational education and training and reform of industrial relations to provide workers with a collective voice and representation to achieve fair and equitable relations in the workplace.
