March 7, 2025

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) and the Joint Committee for the People’s Spring Struggle on March 6 staged a day of action in Tokyo to win a substantial wage hike for all workers in this year’s “shunto” spring wage talks.

At a rally held at Hibiya Amphitheater with 3,000 people participating, Zenroren President Akiyama Masaomi delivered a speech and stressed, “Our tenacious fight has garnered public support for our demand for a significant wage hike. Let us have confidence in meeting this objective!”

Criticizing the Ishiba government for pushing forward with a huge military buildup, the Zenroren president called on the participants, mainly union activists, to work hard to increase public awareness that tax revenues should be used to protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

Zenroren Secretary General Kurosawa Koichi noted that Zenroren proposed to win a 10% wage increase in this year’s “shunto” labor offensive, and expressed his determination to make all-out efforts, including going on strikes, to achieve this.

National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) President Watanabe Hiroshi and National Federation of Dockworkers’ Unions of Japan (Zenkoku-kowan) President Takeuchi Hajime delivered speeches in solidarity. Takeuchi said that the union will not hesitate to go on strike at ports and harbors nationwide in order to push the employers to accept the union’s demands.

The rally participants in chorus shouted slogans: “Let us win a substantial wage hike!”, “Don’t deregulate labor laws!”, “Let us realize a nationwide uniform minimum hourly wage of 1,500 yen!”, and “Let us force the government to spend more for social welfare services, not for military expansion!”