The wages dispute between state government and Unions has been ongoing, with police and nurses at the forefront.

Today, union heavyweights are calling to change laws so they can charge employees for wage deals if they’re not union members.

Australian Industry Groups CEO Innes Willox told Jamie Burnett on Perth Live this is dramatic overreach from some union leaders looking for relevance and finance to prop themselves up.

He also says unions are not always behind wage increases.

“About 90 per cent of workers aren’t actually members of unions.”

“We’ve seen about 50 years of decline in union membership,” said Willox.

“It’s very important you’re not compelled or forced to join a union. People will do so if they see it as being relevant or valuable to them.”

“Unions have got to prove themselves to be relevant and they’re not doing that.”

LISTEN to the FULL CONVERSATION below.