January 18, 2011
The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on January 17 issued a strategy for the 2011 spring wage struggle, rejecting pay-raise demands by trade unions on the grounds of increasing global competition.
The strategy is in a report entitled, “Winning in the global competition through cooperation between management and labor,” written by Keidanren’s committee on management and labor policy. The report turns its back on a public call for a part of the internal reserve funds in business corporations to be used for wage hikes and job creation. It brushes off even a small pay increase of one percent demanded by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), saying, “The demand is extremely hard to meet.”
As for the system of annual wage hikes, the report states, “It seems that most companies are going to negotiate wages focusing on maintaining the system,” while refusing a raise in base pay.
It insists that the wage level in Japan is higher than that of other countries and regions competing against Japan, including South Korea and Taiwan. Regarding a call for reversing the recent decline in wages, the report states, “This is inappropriate.”
The report also claims that a wage hike may only increase savings “without encouraging consumer spending unlike some people’s expectation”.
Keidanren rejects the use of corporate internal reserves, insisting that “the reserves are not retained in the shape of cash or bank deposits” and that “the current internal reserves are meager compared to the international standard.”
Over the last 12 years, the average annual income of workers has decreased by 610,000 yen while large corporations have amassed 244 trillion yen in internal reserves. The reserves are retained in the shape of bank deposits or securities that can be converted into cash.
In the 2011 spring labor offensive, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) demands an across-the-board pay raise of at least 10,000 yen a month. The Japan Research Institute of Labor Movement (Rodo-soken) estimates that this can be achieved through the use of less than three percent of the internal reserves.
The strategy is in a report entitled, “Winning in the global competition through cooperation between management and labor,” written by Keidanren’s committee on management and labor policy. The report turns its back on a public call for a part of the internal reserve funds in business corporations to be used for wage hikes and job creation. It brushes off even a small pay increase of one percent demanded by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), saying, “The demand is extremely hard to meet.”
As for the system of annual wage hikes, the report states, “It seems that most companies are going to negotiate wages focusing on maintaining the system,” while refusing a raise in base pay.
It insists that the wage level in Japan is higher than that of other countries and regions competing against Japan, including South Korea and Taiwan. Regarding a call for reversing the recent decline in wages, the report states, “This is inappropriate.”
The report also claims that a wage hike may only increase savings “without encouraging consumer spending unlike some people’s expectation”.
Keidanren rejects the use of corporate internal reserves, insisting that “the reserves are not retained in the shape of cash or bank deposits” and that “the current internal reserves are meager compared to the international standard.”
Over the last 12 years, the average annual income of workers has decreased by 610,000 yen while large corporations have amassed 244 trillion yen in internal reserves. The reserves are retained in the shape of bank deposits or securities that can be converted into cash.
In the 2011 spring labor offensive, the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) demands an across-the-board pay raise of at least 10,000 yen a month. The Japan Research Institute of Labor Movement (Rodo-soken) estimates that this can be achieved through the use of less than three percent of the internal reserves.
