The central bank board will hold its monthly board meeting this afternoon, but economists generally expect it to keep the official cash rate steady at 4.25 per cent for another month.
National secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Michael O'Connor says the bank will be economically irresponsible if it does nothing.
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Mr O'Connor says if the RBA continues to twiddle its thumbs, there'll be a severe downturn in manufacturing, retail, tourism and other vital sections of the economy, resulting in thousands of job losses.
He pointed to new data yesterday showing the manufacturing sector is contracting.
RBA EXPECTED TO HOLD RATES
Economists expect the central bank to keep rates on hold at its board meeting on Tuesday.
None of the 15 economists surveyed by AAP expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut the cash rate at its April meeting, to be held in Melbourne.
Commsec economist Savanth Sebastian said the central bank appeared comfortable with the cash rate at its current 4.25 per cent and would hold from easing until stronger domestic data was published.
"I've gathered from their last couple of speeches that they're almost content with where the economy is and where interest rate settings are," Mr Sebastian said.
"If anything, if they were going to shift their view on rates, it would be after the next round of inflation data is released in late April."
The RBA left rates on hold for the second consecutive month at its March meeting, after two consecutive rate cuts of 25 basis points each.
