ACTU president Ged Kearney has accused "mean-spirited employer groups" of being sexist after they attacked a pay rise awarded to community sector workers.
"Are employer groups really advocating that we stay in the dark days where women were treated as second-class workers?" the union boss asked on Thursday.
About 150,000 community sector workers across the country, mostly women, were on Wednesday awarded a pay rise by Fair Work Australia in a landmark test case.
The industrial umpire said the pay increases should be phased in over eight years.
The pay increases will range from 19 to 41 per cent, or wage rises of between $6324 and $24,346.
But the move hasn't been welcomed by all sectors of the community.
Ms Kearney accused business groups of clinging to outdated ideas that devalue the role of women in the workforce.
"It is an absolute shame that on the day when we see the end of decades of undervaluation of the work in the sector dominated by women, employer groups are acting as if the sky is going to fall in," she said.
The union also disparaged claims the ruling would lead to fresh claims in other sectors.
"You cannot just cut and paste the decision into other sectors," she said, adding the claims amounted to "scaremongering".
Ms Kearney called on state and territory governments to commit to funding the pay rises.
"Employers must also commit to this decision because the reality is Australia has moved on from old-fashioned ideas of women's work."
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