The Australian Council of Trade Unions is vying against a request by the federal government to freeze the minimum wage for more than 2.2 million workers. 

The federal government wrote to the Fair Work Commission, encouraging a decision against a minimum wage increase, arguing it’s too big a risk for the economy.

Assistant Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Scott Connolly told Joe Hildebrand the move is flawed on two fronts.

Firstly, he argued a wage freeze would set workers “backward in real terms” after JobKeeper ended last month.

“There’s a lot of people out there that are struggling and need a wage increase,” he said. “They’ve been experiencing low wage growth for close to a decade now at record lows.

“They hadn’t had a wage increase last year because of the pandemic.”

Secondly, a freeze could present a worse hit for the economy.

“These workers are the biggest spenders in our economy,” Mr Connolly continued. “Every dollar they earn will be pumped back into our economy.”

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Image: Getty