He told Labour's annual conference the party had to win public support and avoid alienating people and adding to the book of ''historic union failures''.
With senior union leaders sitting in the conference hall to hear his first keynote speech as leader, Mr Miliband said: ''That is why I have no truck, and you should have no truck, with overblown rhetoric about waves of irresponsible strikes.
''The public won't support them. I won't support them and you shouldn't support them either.''
Mr Miliband said it was vital that workers had a voice to speak for them, telling delegates that during the leadership campaign he met a group of dinner ladies who had to buy their own uniforms and had their shift patterns changed at a moment's notice.
"Frankly conference they were being exploited. So they looked to their union to help them. They weren't interested in going on strike - they loved the kids they served and they wanted to serve their schools.
"But they wanted someone to help them get basic standards of decency and fairness.
"Responsible trade unions are part of a civilised society. Every democratic country recognises that. But all of us in this movement bear a heavy responsibility.
"We want to win an argument about the danger this coalition poses to our economy and our society."
