Japanese Wage Talks Start with Set Expectations, Gains for Non-regular Workers

Leaders of Japanese labour and business opened the first round of spring wage negotiations, called shunto, on 23 January at Keidanren Kaikan Hall in Otemachi, Tokyo. The talks, led by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Rengo, commence in the automotive and appliance industries, with other Japanese sectors scheduled to follow. Shunto talks usually run until the end of March.

Expectations are high, and for the first time in the recent past, unions in several industries have announced fixed wage goals for this year’s talks. For example, the Japanese Automobile Workers’ Union is demanding at least ¥1,000-a-month as a salary adjustment, while other unions are demanding even more.

This spring’s wage offensive also includes achievable goals to raise salaries and levels of benefits for part-time and agency workers. Rengo is demanding that companies sign a minimum wage agreement for contract workers, ensuring them of a salary that is higher than the official minimum wage. It will also push for revision of Japan's Worker Dispatch Law. That proposed change will guarantee more rights for contract workers and temporary workers.

Both Japanese trade union confederations, Rengo and UI Zensen, are championing the cause of temporary and agency workers. Japanese unions made substantial gains last year in recruiting part-time and non-regular workers into the union ranks, judging by a 12% increase in 2007. Japanese unions have prioritised gains for part-time and non-regular workers, knowing how dangerous a wide wage disparity between full-time and part-time workers can be.