SIPTU says workers in the private sector need pay increases to meet the rising cost of living.
The union is appealing to employers to be creative when it comes to putting additional money in workers' pockets.
SIPTU is calling for the government to raise the tax-free amount from €500 to €1,000 euro for employee gifts.
Latest figures from the CSO show inflation reached almost 7 percent in the year to March - the highest rate in 22 years.
SIPTU's Deputy General Secretary for the Private Sector, Gerry McCormack, says they're planning to lodge pay rise claims with all employers where wage agreements are due for renewal.
"We have been engaged with employers, many of them are quite willing to sit down and discuss this with us. Some probably won't, because we already have agreements in place. But those agreements were done in good faith.
"They were done at a time when inflation was much lower than it is now. So what we would hope to do is to sit down with employers find unique ways to deal with this issue. It doesn't have to be percentage increases, but it has to be to put money into our members pockets so that they're not going to be out as a result of the inflationary pressures."
