Around 60 per cent of Australians back the federal government’s planned overhaul of workplace laws, including the introduction of multi-employer bargaining, a union-backed poll shows.

The industrial relations reforms, which will enshrine multi-employer bargaining, are set to pass parliament this week after the government struck a deal with independent ACT senator David Pocock.

Some 59.1 per cent of people surveyed believe that workers should have “better rights” to negotiate pay rises, the poll conducted for the peak union body by RedBridge found.

Another 61.6 per cent believe workers should have access to multi-employer agreements across similar workplaces while 60.2 per cent believe people working for a single big business should be able to form one agreement.

“This poll shows that working people want to see the ‘Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill’ passed and implemented in their workplaces,” ACTU president Michele O’Neil said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Employers have found every loophole in our current system. 

“The current system has not been delivering wage growth.”

Under the government’s bill, 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.

The minimum bargaining period has also been increased from a planned six months to nine months.

Business lobby groups fear multi-employer bargaining will lead to more industrial action and penalise firms.