‘Simply about survival’: ACTU calls for 7% pay rise for lowest-paid workers to keep pace with inflation

ACTU secretary Sally McManus says a 7% pay rise would help the lowest-paid Australians keep their heads above water. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Australian unions have called for a pay rise of 7% for the lowest-paid workers, a raise in the national minimum wage of $1.50 an hour to keep pace with inflation.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions made that submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, which sets the pay of more than 2.6 million employees on the national minimum or award wages.