Unions have stepped up pressure on the Rudd Government to bring forward key elements of its industrial relations changes, including unfair-dismissal laws and its new collective bargaining rules.
ACTU president Sharan Burrow said there was evidence some employers were exploiting the confusion arising from the Government's slow speed in overturning the previous government's hated WorkChoices laws.
Ms Burrow pointed to an attempt by Harvey Norman to sign up a worker to an Australian Workplace Agreement in May with a pay packet of nearly $150 a week less than the award.
While the Government banned entry into new Australian Workplace Agreements in March, it is still drafting a substantive Bill for Parliament next month in consultation with employers and unions to establish a new industrial system.
That is due to start in January 2010.
It includes a new industrial tribunal, Fair Work Australia, and a modernised award system, which will include 10 legislated minimum employment standards.
But unions are unhappy that Howard government bodies such as the building industry watchdog, the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and unfair-dismissal laws are still in place nearly eight months after the federal election.
Ms Burrow singled out the case of Noel Washington, a building unionist who faces six months in jail for refusing to give evidence to the commission, as an example of one rule for building workers compared with those for other workers.
But Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has repeatedly said she would not fast-track the abolition of the commission before 2010.
She did, however, hint last month that she might consider bringing forward other elements of the new system.
Deputy Opposition Leader and workplace relations spokeswoman Julie Bishop defended the commission yesterday, saying the body had been an outstanding success in curbing militant union behaviour, adding 1.5 per cent to gross domestic product as a result.
Ms Bishop said, ''It would be a disaster for the building and construction sector to once again be exposed to the tactics of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and other unions.''
Ms Burrow said an online poll of more than 1000 people conducted by Galaxy for the ACTU showed 73 per cent of voters believe the Government should move now to restore unfair-dismissal protection for workers in businesses with fewer than 100 staff.
The poll found 69 per cent wanted collective bargaining rights restored.
Ms Burrow said, ''This poll contains an important message from the Australian public to the business community: there can be no delay in getting rid of Work-Choices and restoring a fair go in the workplace.
''Business needs to listen to these voters and stop lobbying the Government to delay or undermine what was promised last year.''
The Galaxy poll, conducted earlier this month, found 77 per cent of respondents agreed an umpire should be able to step in and arbitrate in an intractable industrial dispute, something Labor believes should only be available in restricted circumstances, if at all.
A similar number of voters also want Labor to relax its allowance for issues deemed prohibited content.