ACTU wants the right to strike

The ACTU wants workers to have the right to take legal strike action as it launches a bid to lift wages.

Declaring enterprise-only bargaining had failed, the peak union body wants Labor to overhaul the Fair Work Act to give greater power to unions and workers to negotiate wage claims.

"Australia needs a pay rise, and we have a plan that will deliver," ACT Secretary, Sally McManus said.

"Profits are up and productivity is up, but wages are not.

"The only way to ensure working people get their fair share in pay rises is to ensurethey have the power they need to negotiate.

"This will benefit every working person now and into the future."

The six-point plan has been condemned by business and industry as a return to 1970s-style industrial relations.

The Act, introduced by the previous Labor Government, does not give workers the right to take protected strike action.

Ms McManus said it gave too much power to employers and workers needed more options.

Labor has said it's open to proposals that lift wages.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it wasn't prepared to return to "the law of jungle".

And it warned of a slowdown in economic growth if strike action was allowed.

The ACT also wants a "living wage" rather than a minimum wage, the restoration of penalty rates, and equal pay for women.