Unions have warned the national minimum wage-setting body - the Fair Pay Commission - not to leave the low paid out in the cold when it hands down its wage decision in July.
Australians may have voted against Work Choices but they don't want a return to the bad old days of unions "monstering" employers, the federal coalition says.
Family First senator Steve Fielding wants small business exempted from union right of entry provisions and bargaining rules for the low paid contained in Labor's Fair Work Bill.
The federal government's Fair Work Bill increases the power of unions and could burden business at a "highly risky" economic time, the Australian Industry Group says.
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard will put the finishing touches to Labor's new industrial laws at a meeting with union, business and industry representatives.
The Rudd government says it would be concerned if two women were sacked by new managers from a defence department childcare centre because they were on maternity leave.
