Japan Press Weekly

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2024 January 24 - 30 [LABOR]

Zenroren seeks to turn Japan into a nation of rising wages

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) on January 24 held a meeting of representatives from industrial and prefectural federations and adopted an action plan that sets forth wage hike goals to be achieved in the soon-to-come “shunto” spring labor wage talks.

Zenroren member unions seek to win a monthly wage hike of more than 30,000 yen and an hourly wage increase of over 190 yen. In addition, they will demand that at least 225,000 yen a month or 1,500 yen an hour be paid to all workers regardless of the industry they work in.

Zenroren President Obata Masako in her opening speech pointed out that the results of last year’s “shunto” exceeded previous levels, but not enough amid rising prices. She stressed that in this year’s labor offensive, Zenroren aims to put a stop to the falling wages and turn Japan into a nation of rising wages. She called on Zenroren members to work hard to win a substantial wage hike through strikes and wage-hike bargaining in order to protect livelihoods amid the cost of living crisis.

Obata noted that the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) in the “2024 Report of the Committee on Management and Labor Policy, known as the business circle’s “shunto” countermeasure, called for realizing “structural pay increases” associated with the promotion of pro-business reform regarding labor mobility and the removal of working time limits. She said that to counter this move, it is more important for Zenroren to fulfill its role as a militant labor movement.

Explaining the action plan, Zenroren Secretary General Kurosawa Koichi called on Zenroren member unions to bargain tenaciously by taking strike actions and other measures until employers make an acceptable offer.