Minister urges business to fight unions

In a speech to the Australian Industry Group in Canberra on Monday, Mr Laundy conceded the coalition had let the union movement take over workplace relations "unchallenged".

He took aim at the Australian Council of Trade Unions' campaign to change workplace laws, which the peak trade union body says will restore fairness to the system.

"It's a scary prospect. It's a bleak future. As a country, we cannot afford to go there," Mr Laundy said.

Unions had perfected the art of organising as a political tool, the minister said, before declaring "enough is enough".

"This is a call to action from me to every one of you," Mr Laundy told business leaders.

"Whether you come from a large business or a small one, it does not matter - the potential outcome here is the same.

"You need to organise the way the unions do."

Mr Laundy said the ACTU's bid for industry-wide bargaining would guarantee a return to rolling strikes, which would paralyse industries and cripple essential services.

"It will turn back the clock to the 1970s when industrial action was more than 40 times higher than it is today," he said.

Unions' proposal to make the Fair Work Commission a "one-stop shop" for resolving disputes and responding to mistreatment in the workplace could be unconstitutional, the minister said.

"The ACTU thinks it can simply trash our constitution in its never-ending quest for greater power."

The ACTU is engaged in its biggest campaign in a decade, with rallies and marches across the nation calling for the government to "change the rules".

Mr Laundy said ACTU secretary Sally McManus would effectively be workplace relations minister in a Bill Shorten-led Labor government.

"The outcome of the next federal election, especially in terms of industrial relations, is possibly the most important in our recent history," he said.

Comment has been sought from the ACTU.

Australian Associated Press