“I want to see good outcomes, but the proposals for increased taxes, for a tightening of the industrial relations scheme … surely is not something that Mr Albanese can entertain,” he said.

On Wednesday, the ACTU proposed changes to fair work laws, noting the enterprise bargaining system was in need of reform and was not working for some newer industries.

The peak body for unions called for more options for collective bargaining, including multi-employer or sector bargaining, which would allow multiple workplaces to make an agreement together.

ACTU head Sally McManus said people in care sectors, in particular, would benefit because it would allow workers at multiple businesses to band together to ask for higher pay and better working conditions.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has not endorsed the proposal, but said there would be a debate on changes to the enterprise bargaining system.

“(The system) is just not delivering that strong responsible sustainable wages growth that we need to see, which has been absent from our economy for the best of the decade,” he said on Thursday.

“We’re not naive about this issue being contentious.”

Chalmers said working Australians had gone backwards under the current enterprise bargaining system while businesses were recording large profits.

Recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics data for the June quarter showed pay packets were falling behind the rising cost of living.

The business community has broadly opposed the multi-employer bargaining proposal.

Business Council boss Jennifer Westacott said it was not the solution to slow wages growth, and that making the enterprise bargaining system “easier, more accessible and simpler” was the key to locking in more ambitious agreements.

Innes Willox, chief executive of Ai Group, also said the emphasis should remain on reforms to enterprise bargaining.

“We should definitely not subject them to a one-size-fits-all approach of sector bargaining and the prospect of damaging industrial action,” he said.

The draft agenda for the two-day jobs and skills summit also has skills shortages, sluggish wage growth and maintaining low unemployment on the agenda.

The tech industry and the ACTU have found some common ground ahead of the summit, calling for a new digital apprenticeship program, improved pathways to permanent migration for tech workers, and more work to attract women into the industry.

Australia’s migration program will also feature prominently at the summit, with the possibility of a rise in the cap for skilled migrants and movement on visa processing backlogs.

-AAP