The government’s industrial relations reforms will likely pass the Senate this week after Labor secured a deal with independent senator David Pocock.

Burke said he knew negotiations would be challenging but the laws would pave the way for more wage rise negotiations between employers and staff.

“Getting rid of some of the red tape that we’ve got there will actually bring some of those businesses back to the table straight away,” he told Nine’s Today Show on Monday.

“You will see some workers where the (wage rise) movement happens very quickly, there’ll be others where it’s a longer process, but importantly, the framework will finally be there.”

Under agreed changes to the legislation, the government will set up an independent body to review social support payments before every federal budget.

Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees will be excluded from single-interest multi-enterprise bargaining.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will have extra safeguards if they want to opt out of multi-employer bargaining, while the minimum bargaining period will also be increased from six to nine months.

Pocock said the changes struck the right balance.

“Clearly, there’s a need to get wages moving and not everyone’s going to be happy with that,” he told ABC Radio.

“There are workers in Australia who need a pay rise. The cost of living and inflation is making it very hard for many people to make ends meet.”

He said the independent committee that would examine social security payments would be critical.

“We talk a lot about cost and yes, this is something that we have to think about … but let’s remember that households are making equally tough decisions about whether they pay for medicines or pay for food,” he said.

“This committee provides a pathway for better looking after the most vulnerable in our communities and we all benefit from that.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has labelled an overhaul of workplace laws as a “win-win” for workers and employers.

Albanese said the laws would see wages move after a period of stagnant growth.

“What we’re doing is changing the system so that there is better bargaining across the board,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“We create a culture where there’s a recognition that it is in employers’ and employees’ interests to sit down and negotiate in a fair way to achieve win-wins.”

Under agreed changes to the legislation, the government will set up an independent body to review social support payments before every federal budget.

Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees will be excluded from single-interest multi-enterprise bargaining.

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will have extra safeguards if they want to opt out of multi-employer bargaining, while the minimum bargaining period will also be increased from six to nine months.

“It is about empowering the Fair Work Commission but it’s also about empowering employees,” Albanese said.

“We want to make sure that this isn’t something that is imposed, we want to make sure that both workers and business have an opportunity to have a fair input into the industrial relations system.”

However, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce warned the new laws would lead to more strikes.

“As enterprise agreements expire and the people are going to be shifting to these multi-party agreements … this incites further industrial action,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.

“Small businesses (are) having to fork out $14,000 as part of the process that this legislation brings in. That was never told to anybody before the election.”

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has dismissed the claims as a scare campaign.

“This is really about making it easier. It is about getting wages moving,” she told Seven.

“These are sensible laws. It is disappointing the coalition has not negotiated and discussed and had a conversation about this.”

Business groups have hit out at the laws, with Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox saying businesses would be unfairly targeted.

“There’s still an enormous amount of vagueness around who can get roped into multi-party bargaining,” he told ABC Radio.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie also weighed in on Monday, telling Nine’s Today Show she fears the changes will give unions “unheralded power” and end in more strikes around the country.

“There is no choker chain on unions,” she said.

Lambie was also skeptical about the plan to set up an independent body to review social support payments before every budget.

“When they (the government) say we will look at the rates of jobseeker, it will come down to the recommendations and whether or not the government wants to pick up the recommendations,” she said.