Future Challenges: Productivity, progressive policy and the jobs of the future

The Chifley Research Centre recently hosted David Coats for a policy seminar at Parliament House, Canberra. David Coats is an Associate Director of the Work Foundation, a British think-tank looking at the policy intersection between wages policies, welfare policies and the regulation of workplace relations. The Foundation provides research and consultancy services to public services and private sector companies on how mutual respect in workplaces leads to 'Good Work'. He was a member of the UK's Low Pay Commission from 2000 to 2004 and is currently a member of the Central Arbitration Committee. He has written extensively on the problems and challenges facing workers and employers in the UK labour market.

At the policy seminar David gave an interesting summary of the latest research from the centre and his observations on the modernisation of British trade unions, the policy settings necessary for achieving 'good work', and the current state of workplace relation regulation in the UK. The seminar was introduced by Mark Butler MP, who has an ongoing interest in the policy issues raised.

David was in Australia launching two new discussion papers with the progressive think-tank Per Capita. The papers look at two topical issues for Australia, the link between quality of work and quality of life, and also an argument on why union modernisation should be a topic of discussion among progressives outside of the labour movement.

You can read an interview that David recently conducted with us here

The papers can be downloaded at the Per Capita webpage here.