Multi-employer bargaining will lead to higher prices with agreements made at the jobs and skills summit throwing fuel on the "inflationary fire", Liberal frontbencher Angus Taylor says.
It follows comments by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who wouldn't confirm if multi-employer bargaining would become compulsory, rather than opt-in.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke will begin consulting on the potential workplace law change, after the government's jobs and skills summit wrapped up last Friday.
Mr Taylor said the move would lead to industry-wide strikes and increase cost of living pressures.
"It pushes up wages and pushes up prices," the shadow treasurer told Sky News on Monday.
"This is a bad place to go ... what we saw coming out of that job summit was fuel on the inflationary fire."
Business lobby groups have sounded the alarm over the prospect of multi-employer bargaining.
When asked if it would become compulsory, Mr Albanese said he never played the "on-the table game".
"We'll have those discussions," he told ABC radio.
"I see myself as pro-business and pro-worker. I see that there is common interest between business and unions, that Australia works best when we're all headed in the one direction."
Independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie said the government was "bloody dreaming" if it planned to ram through multi-employer bargaining reforms before the end of the year.
"If they think they're just going to rush all this legislation through, I've got news for them, and it's all bad. It's not going to happen," she told reporters.
"We need to make sure that we get a briefing on what they're doing when it comes to the Fair Work Act and what they're changing."
Meanwhile, the opposition sought on Monday to bring on private senator's legislation to fast-track a move to allow pensioners to earn more income without losing their pension.
The government promised on Friday during the summit to boost the amount pensioners can earn before their pension is affected from $7800 to $11,800 a year.
Liberal senator Dean Smith told parliament there was no time to waste with making the change.
"You might like to ask yourself why - after two days of a jobs and skills summit - can Anthony Albanese ... have a grand bargain with big business, big unions and big government but they can't legislate a grand bargain for age pensioners and veterans today."
