The CFMEU wants to increase workers' wages six per cent each year, but Victorian builders say it will take money from the building of much-needed infrastructure.
The construction union also wants any agreed work on scheduled lockdown weekends, Christmas or Easter to be paid at double-time-and-a-half rates.
Master Builders Association of Victoria chief executive Radley de Silva said it wasn't just employers who would bear the "unsustainable wage burden".
"The government and therefore taxpayers also foot the bill - with important funds being diverted from our much-needed infrastructure in this state," Mr de Silva said on Wednesday.
The CFMEU's log of claims includes a wage increase of six per cent a year for four years, along with an increase in allowances.
It's understood the union views the claim as the start of negotiations.
The union also wants high-vis winter jackets to be issued to workers before May 1 each year.
"Like all unions, the CFMEU will be doing the best it can to deliver a good outcome for its membership through a lawful process of good faith negotiation with all builders, in line with the Fair Work Act," CFMEU spokesman Clancy Dobbyn said.
"We hope that the Liberal government respects these negotiations and refrains from interfering in this usually constructive process."
Mr de Silva said the proposed enterprise bargaining agreement didn't take into account the urgency of the state's economic circumstances.
"This isn't just a windfall gain being received by union EBA employees, it is a cost borne by the community as a whole," he said.
