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This book covers topics ranging from the 'mega-drivers of change' at work, power, globalisation and financialisation, to management, workers, digitalisation, the gig economy, gender, climate change, regulation and deregulation. It demolishes several myths, such as that we are all heading to becoming 'freelancers' or 'gig workers' one day.

What do we know about the current realities of work and its likely futures? What choices must we make and how will they affect those futures? Many books about the future of work start by talking about the latest technology, and focus on how technology is going to change the way we work. And there is no doubt that technology will have huge impacts. However, to really understand the direction in which work is going, and the impact that technology and other forces will have, we need to first understand where we are. This book covers topics ranging from the 'mega-drivers of change' at work, power, globalisation and financialisation, to management, workers, digitalisation, the gig economy, gender, climate change, regulation and deregulation. In doing this, it refers to some of the great works of science fiction. It demolishes several myths, such as that the employment relationship is doomed, that we are all heading to becoming 'freelancers' or 'gig workers' one day, that most jobs will be destroyed by technological change, that the growth in jobs will mainly be in STEM fields, that we will no longer value collectivism as we will all be 'individuals', or that the death of unionism is inevitable. The Realities and Futures of Work also rejects the idea of technological determinism—that whatever will be, will be, thanks to technological change—and so it refuses to accept that we simply need to prepare to adapt ourselves to the future by judicious training since there is nothing else we can do about it. Instead, this book provides a realistic basis for thinking about both the present and the future. It emphasises the choices we make, and the implications of those choices for the future of work.

This article addresses a core aspect of the question: 'is the collectivism of labour in fundamental decline?' It pays particular attention to attitudes towards collectivism using national and cross-national data on trends in dimensions of collectivism over periods of up to two decades. The data indicate that collective values and identities are today broadly as strong (or weak) as they were two or three decades ago. If individualization is the problem, then we should not look at individualization of attitudes but attempts by employers and governments to individualize the employment relationship. Union organizing strategies need to reinforce union values and build solidarities across groups which are more complex and heterogeneous than in the past.

Le présent article aborde un aspect essentiel de la question suivante : « le collectivisme du travail connaît-il un déclin substantiel ? ». Il accorde une attention particulière aux comportements à l'égard du collectivisme à l'aide de données nationales et transnationales sur les tendances concernant les dimensions du collectivisme sur des périodes allant jusqu'à vingt ans. Ces données montrent que les valeurs et identités collectives sont généralement aussi fortes (ou faibles) qu'il y a vingt ou trente ans. Si la source du problème est l'individualisation, nous ne devrions pas examiner l'individualisation des comportements mais bien les tentatives des employeurs et des gouvernements d'individualiser la relation de travail. Les stratégies de syndicalisation doivent renforcer les valeurs syndicales et instaurer des solidarités entre groupes plus complexes et hétérogènes que par le passé.

Over the past decade or more, employer use of individual contracts to determine pay and conditions for employees increased in Australia and elsewhere, in no small part due to encouragement by governments, including through legislation promoting Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). This paper considers the evidence on the impact of individual contacts and collective bargaining on outcomes such as pay and conditions for employees and the implications for the distribution of power. Employees on AWAs receive higher pay on average than other employees, due to the overrepresentation of managerial and senior specialised skilled staff amongst AWA employees. For other employees, however, individual contracts appear to be more likely to be associated with lower wage increases and/or a reduction in other conditions of employment. This in turn reflects the impact that individual contracting, compared to collective bargaining, has on the power of employees. Collective bargaining increases the bargaining power of employees, is the mechanism by which unions achieve most gains for their members, and is strengthened when union density is high. However, not all employees receive lower wages if they shift from collective bargaining to AWAs: some receive a non-union premium, by which employers in effect purchase a transfer of power from employees. While the impact of individual contracting, by comparison with collective bargaining, on pay and conditions may vary, it is unambiguously associated with a transfer of power from employees to employers.

A touching and inspiring narrative, this history chronicles the vital role played by women in the coal mining industry in central and southeastern Queensland, Australia. From the early days when wives supported their coal mining husbands through the women's auxiliaries to the fight for better working conditions and the recent move out of the home and into the mines, this well-researched record includes personal accounts of more than 100 women affected by mining as well as previously unpublished photographs. Note: Due to UNSW Press not owning the digital rights for the removed images, please re