Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus will make a renewed employment reform pitch during a speech at the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

"As a country we should aim to halve the number of insecure jobs over the next decade," a draft of her speech says.

"This is completely achievable if government, employers and unions all work together as we did during the height of the pandemic."

Under the ACTU plan, governments would commit to refusing to award contracts to companies that don't prioritise secure work.

"This means stopping outsourcing to companies who have built business models on job insecurity like labour hire companies and as we have seen in cleaning, hotel security and aged care," Ms McManus will say.

Australia's economic health indicators would include an insecure work target with progress made a critical data point.

Unions are also pushing for reforms around fixed-term employment, the gig economy and labour hire.

Ms McManus will also call for employers to prioritise the creation and maintenance of permanent employment.

"The virus made it impossible for our society and our governments to ignore the terrible reality of casualised and precarious work."

The coalition government is expected to next week introduce wide-ranging industrial relations reform legislation after meetings with business and unions earlier in the year.

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter told parliament on Tuesday one of the priority areas would be allowing companies to strike pay and conditions deals spanning the construction period of a major project.

Ms McManus fears the proposed laws could weaken protections for workers, signalling strong resistance to any measure reducing rights.

"We cannot allow the pandemic to be the opportunity the government uses to attack the very social institutions and safety-nets that we should be treasuring," she will say.

The ACTU secretary also favours continuing the rare cooperation between unions, a conservative government and business seen during the pandemic.

"This consultation and cooperation must not only belong to the pandemic - it must become business as usual again in Australia as it makes us better as a country."

Australian Associated Press