The Australian Council of Trade Unions has made its biggest minimum wage claim yet, calling on the Fair Work Commission to increase rates this year by an extraordinary 7.2 per cent or $50 a week.

The peak union body's submission, to be filed for the commission's minimum wage panel on Tuesday, would increase full-time wages from $694.90 to $744.90 a week and is part of a union strategy to create a "living wage" at 60 per cent of median earnings.