July 1, 2023

The Labor Ministry’s Central Council on Minimum Wages on June 30 began discussions on its annual recommendation for an increase in regional minimum wages.

At a council meeting on the day, Labor Minister Kato Katsunobu said that the Kishida government places importance on realizing wage growth amid inflation, and proposed to increase the average minimum hourly wage by 4% (39 yen) to 1,000 yen from the current 961 yen.

Meanwhile, in front of the Labor Ministry office building, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), together with the National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo), held a rally to demand a uniform national minimum wage hike to 1,500 yen an hour.

Delivering her speech, Zenroren President Obata Masako pointed out that considering that in the past year the consumer price index rose 4-5% on a year-on-year basis, the government-proposed 4% minimum wage hike is totally insufficient to deal with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. In addition, she criticized the government for showing no intent to narrow the regional minimum wage gap of 219 yen.

Union activists also delivered speeches. A member of the National Federation of Consumers' Cooperatives Workers' Unions (Seikyo-roren) pointed out that the differences in regional minimum wages have led to the substantial regional income gap, and stressed the need to establish a nationwide minimum hourly wage of 1,500 yen.

Past related article:
> Minimum hourly wage of \1,500 is key to overall higher wages [June 30, 2022]