International & comparative employment relations: global crises & institutional responses

Abstract

path, they have been in line with changes in many other Anglo-American countries. Unsurprisingly, Russell expresses his concern about the decline in collective bargaining and union density, including the continuous decline in private sector union density under the Fair Work Act 2009, that has challenged traditional industrial relations. Russell mentions several times that labour market fragmentation and growing inequalities have had a corrosive effect on fairness and societal cohesion. The book highlights deep concerns about these trends and interestingly, Russell doesn’t suggest some minor legislative or societal changes. In the book’s final pages (pp. 163–168), there is a call for a new social contract which brings forward ideas that have been part of Russell’s research interests for several decades: