February 26, 2019

Union workers in Aichi Prefecture held a rally in the prefectural capital of Nagoya City on February 24 to unite to achieve a victory in this year's labor-management wage bargaining negotiations and marched in demonstration demanding that Toyota Motor return a part of the internal reserves it has amassed to its workers.

Uematsu Saichi, the president of the Aichi Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions (Zenroren local, Ai-roren), in the rally pointed out that Toyota Motor has hoarded a total of more than 22 trillion yen in internal reserves and said that the carmaker should utilize a portion of the reserves to substantially increase wages for workers and improve unit prices for subcontractors.

The rally participants paraded through downtown Nagoya, holding a banner that read, "Decent wages for decent lives with eight hours workdays!" While walking, they handed out to shoppers and passersby handbills pointing out that it will become mandatory for employers to give workers a 5-day paid leave this coming April under the revised Labor Standards Act.

The rally organizers, members of Zenroren and Ai-roren, the other day visited the Toyota Motor head office in Toyota City in Aichi and Toyota's five affiliated companies to request that wages for everyone to be able to live a decent life without the need to work overtime be guaranteed.

The organizers also requested that fixed-term employment contracts be converted to indefinite ones in compliance with Article 18 of the Labor Contract Act and that a new relief program to help air pollution victims by sharing in the cost for their medical expenses be established.