Workplace Minister Eric Abetz​ has questioned Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's commitment to industrial relations reform in the construction industry after Labor stymied the government's attempt to reintroduce the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Mr Shorten called for an end to the ideological divisions that have blocked industrial change in a speech to the National Reform Summit in Sydney on Wednesday.

"If we live in a class warfare world waged either by ideological governments or unions, we fail," he said.

"Our focus should be upon bringing interests together.

"This could start collaboratively in reforming industrial relations in construction and major projects."

Mr Shorten, a former leader of the ALP right-wing affiliated Australian Workers Union, said he has worked with businesses to generate productivity gains.

He said he had negotiated annualised salaries to encourage greater efficiency and worked towards "improving workplace health and safety to reduce compensation costs and boost output".

Mr Shorten said he had also worked towards "adopting more flexible hours and leave arrangements to turbo-charge productivity on major projects".

"My real-world practical experience over two decades teaches me that for our economy to adjust, productivity improvement depends upon hard work and hard decisions."

After giving his speech, Mr Shorten criticised the federal government for an "ideological approach to industrial relations".

"They just divide it into a sphere of conflict between government, unions and employers," he said.

"Australia in 2015 can't afford these old-fashioned views, be they from the far left or indeed from the current extreme ideology of Mr Abbott and his Liberals.

"Australian workplaces work best when there's harmony and co-operation."

Mr Shorten said Australian managers  were happy to pay people well as long as they were getting good work out of their employees.

"I think there's a lot more room in the centre of Australian political debate for improving the tone and the policies of industrial relations in terms of emphasising co-operation," he said.

"Co-operation can take a number of forms: better safety, better training of apprentices, better provision of adult apprenticeship, greater focus on best practice in workplace relations, and certainly when it comes to construction I'd like to see more women encouraged to take up careers in construction."

Mr Abetz invited voters to look at Mr Shorten's "actions as opposed to his words" after he instructed all his Labor Party senators to vote down the Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation last week.

Mr Abetz said the legislation was designed to protect small businesses, contractors and workers from "thuggery and intimidation" associated with the national construction union.

"The current workplace laws applying to the building and construction sector were put in place by Labor and have remained unchanged. Is Mr Shorten suggesting that Labor's own legislation has been ineffective?" Mr Abetz said.

"If Bill Shorten is serious about reforming industrial relations in the construction industry, then he could start by supporting the government's bill to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission, a body that we know can change workplace culture and deliver significant productivity benefits for the economy and workers."