A major employer group has urged federal Labor to rule out the union movement's push to bring back sector-wide bargaining.
Australian Industry Group's head of workplace relations policy Stephen Smith said the Australian Council of Trade Unions' proposal to allow industry-wide pay agreements would bring the nation's economic success to a grinding halt.
"If such a system was ever implemented, it would not be long before the Australian economy was crippled by strikes across the construction, maritime, mining, manufacturing, transport and other industries," Mr Smith told the annual Ron McCallum Debate in Sydney.
He called for both major parties to reject the policy, arguing the existing enterprise bargaining system should be refreshed instead.
Ai Group wants the Fair Work Act changed so the "better off overall test" is applied to employees at each classification level and not every worker potentially covered by an agreement.
The Fair Work Commission should be able to overlook minor technical issues in assessing agreements.
The commission should also give more weight to respecting deals between employers and employees, unless there's a clear disadvantage to workers.
Mr Smith said the ACTU had proposed agreements be negotiated at the industry level by unions and employer representatives.
"These days unions represent only nine per cent of employees in the private sector, and there are typically a number of employer groups with members in each industry," he said.
He said no union or employer group had a legitimate mandate imposed on thousands of employers.
But ACTU secretary Sally McManus is adamant sector-wide bargaining would be a tonic for sluggish wages growth and rising inequality.
"Our narrow, restrictive system of single enterprise bargaining has failed in so many industries because business owners are encouraged to undercut one another to compete on wage costs," she said last week.
British industrial barrister John Hendy QC was also set to speak in Tuesday's debate ahead of addressing the ACTU executive on Wednesday.
