Japan Press Weekly

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2016 January 13 - 19 TOP3 [LABOR]

Demanding pay raise, union workers surround bldg. of biggest business lobby

About 500 union workers marched in demonstration at lunchtime on January 13 through Tokyo’s business district to increase momentum before going into this year’s spring labor-management wage talks and surrounded the building of the nation’s largest business lobby, Japan Business Federation (Keidanren).

The 2016 Spring Offensive started with this action under the flag of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) and the People’s Spring Struggle Joint Committee. Demonstrators appealed for a pay raise, job security, and regional economic vitalization.

In the upcoming wage negotiations, the two labor organizations will demand a wage increase of 20,000 yen or more a month or at least 150 yen an hour. They also plan to demand the elimination of hourly wages less than 1,000 yen.

Zenroren President Odagawa Yoshikazu pointed out that the number of the working poor and non-regular workers has been increasing and that many workers have been suffering decreases in annual incomes. He said, “Large corporations should give back a portion of their internal reserves of 300 trillion yen to increase wages and unit prices for subcontractors.”

Kasase Takashi, deputy secretary-general of the All-Japan Metal and Information Machinery Workers’ Union (JMIU) which is affiliated with Zenroren, stressed the need to push the pay level up so as to ensure living wages for workers to secure their future.

Kurematsu Saichi, local Zenroren head, came to join the lunchtime action from the Toyota stronghold in Aichi Prefecture. He said that Toyota Motor made more than two trillion yen in operating profits in fiscal 2014 with the depreciation of the yen and the resultant drop in unit prices. “I want the auto giant to raise unit prices and fulfill its corporate social responsibility to help the local economy recover.”