Relative living standards and the needs of NSW's lowest paid may be required to be considered in wage decisions, under proposed amendments to a landmark bill.
The legislation to be debated in NSW parliament on Tuesday will overhaul the state's Industrial Relations Commission, delivering voluntary interest-based bargaining and re-establishing a specific court to deal with work health and safety breaches.
While supporting those measures and the repeal of the law underpinning the old wages cap, the Greens will aim to close a "loophole" affecting wages.
The clause requires the commission to take into consideration the government's fiscal position and outlook.
But, wary demand could mean budgetary pressures outweigh wage growth for unskilled workers, the Greens will try to insert an additional requirement to consider "relative living standards and the needs of the low paid".
The wording has been taken directly from the minimum wage objective in the federal Fair Work Act.
Greens industrial relations spokeswoman Jenny Leong said she was concerned the clause, if left unchanged, "runs the risk of imposing a de facto wages cap by stealth".
"While we welcome the NSW government's commitment to reforming the industrial relations system, it is critical that the needs of public sector workers, particularly those feeling the brunt of the cost of living crisis and those subjected to gender inequities, are prioritised," she said.
"The Greens will be seeking to amend the bill to ensure that the impact of any decisions on low-paid workers must be considered - and not just the NSW government's bottom line.
"We will also be seeking assurances that measures to strengthen gender equity will be delivered in 2024."
Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis said the government was adding its fiscal position and outlook and the need to recruit and retain skilled workers to the range of requirements the commission already had to consider.
"To suggest anything else is either a basic misunderstanding of the law or a deliberate attempt to mislead the public," she said.
The government hopes to rush the proposed powers through the year's final sitting week, after introducing them last week without notice.
That would ensure the changes are bedded down before workplace agreements, including for health workers, are up for negotiation in 2024.
Unions NSW described the legislation as a "major step forward" that would end the wage suppression that had "created an essential worker crisis".
The government expects to legislate a net-zero target this week after striking a deal to add a second interim target.
The 70-per-cent cut by 2035 comes after a dozen crossbenchers including the Greens raised concern the government's two targets - 50 per cent by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 - did not go far enough.
Each target is calculated from 2005 emission levels.
On current projections, NSW will reach the 50 per cent mark by 2028 and 70 per cent by 2035 but will start to plateau around 80 per cent in 2040.
