On March 13th, the 2024 spring labor-management negotiations (spring labor negotiations) marked the day when many major companies responded to the demands of labor unions. Photo taken in January 2017 in Tokyo (2024 Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
TOKYO (Reuters) – On the 13th, the 2024 spring labor-management negotiations (spring labor negotiations) marked the day when many major companies responded to labor union demands. Full responses continued, and the driving force, Toyota Motor Corporation (7203.T), opens new tab, hit its highest level since 1999, when comparisons were made. It is believed that the final wage increase rate for all companies will exceed 4%.
In this year’s spring trade, Honda (7267.T), opens new tab, etc. responded early with full price before the 13th, and last year, Suzuki (7269.T), opens new tab responded with more than 10% of the requested amount. The momentum for wage increases is increasing. As real wages continue to decline due to high prices, the focus will be on how far they can exceed the previous year’s level and whether this will spread to small and medium-sized enterprises and non-regular employees, leading to a virtuous economic cycle. On the 15th, the federation will announce the first round of results, and negotiations will begin in earnest at many small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for about 70% of all employees. Toyota has responded in full for the fourth consecutive year. He increased the total monthly salary by 7,940 to 28,440 yen per person, including regular salary increases and wage improvements equivalent to base increases (bare), and the annual lump-sum payment (bonus) is equivalent to 7.6 months. . Takanori Higashi, General Affairs and Human Resources Head of the company, said, “We will fully cover the impact of price increases, and support family households that are significantly affected by the increase in family allowances.We will also review the treatment standards for young employees.” . He also expressed his hope that the company’s response would spread to related companies. Nissan Motors (7201.T), opens new tab and GS Yuasa Corporation (6674.T), opens new tab also received full responses. Nippon Steel (5401.T), opens new tab, responded to the union’s request for 30,000 yen a month with 35,000 yen. The increase rate is 11.8%. If regular salary increases are included, the increase will be 14.2%. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T), which is performing well due to an increase in the defense budget, also responded fully. Wage improvement reached the highest level since 2005, and the annual income increase rate including lump-sum payments was approximately 8.3%, exceeding the previous year’s approximately 7.0%. Major electronics companies such as Hitachi (6501.T), opens new tab and Panasonic Holdings (6752.T), opens new tab also settled on the full price of 13,000 yen, 6,000 yen more than the previous year’s request. This will be the 11th consecutive year since Hitachi adopted the current requirement method in 1998. “We were able to maintain the momentum of wage increases,” Kenichi Tanaka, executive vice president, said at a press conference, “We would like to continue increasing labor productivity, increasing profitability, and distributing it through wages.” Hisashi Yamada, a visiting researcher at the Japan Research Institute, believes that the final wage increase rate could exceed 4%, and “it wouldn’t be strange for it to go from 4.2% to 4.3%.” Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Economic Research Institute, also predicts, “Ultimately, we will be able to achieve a wage increase rate of over 4%, which is higher than last year.” At a press conference this morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed the recognition that “it is important that the movement toward strong wage increases spreads to small and medium-sized enterprises,” and during an exchange of views between government, labor, and management in the evening, “Towards the realization of wage increases, I want to enhance collaboration between the public and private sectors.” See more.
According to a summary of this year’s spring labor demands announced by the Rengo on the 7th (as of the 4th), the weighted average wage increase rate of the 3,102 unions under its umbrella that demanded wage increases using the “average wage method” was 5.85%, compared to the previous year. This exceeded the request total of 4.49%. This is the first time in 30 years that the rate has exceeded 5%, since the final response tally for the 1994 spring labor union (5.40%).
The wage increase rate for the previous year was 3.80% in the first round, which was announced two days after the intensive response date. The final tally announced in July was 3.58%, the highest since 2013, when comparisons were made.
On the other hand, according to data from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, real wages, excluding inflation, continued to be negative for 22 months until January of this year. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are unable to pass on costs as expected, and many are unable to raise wages sufficiently. According to the Rengo’s final tally, companies with 300 or more employees accounted for 3.64% of companies with 300 or more employees, compared to 3.23% of companies with fewer than 300 employees.
Nissan President Makoto Uchida said at a press conference that “we arrived at the full amount after comprehensively considering the contributions of our employees and the impact on their lives under rising prices,” but he also said that Nissan’s president, Makoto Uchida, had received a full refund after considering the contributions of employees and the impact on the lives of rising prices. He apologized for receiving the recommendation. The company said it was aware of the difficult situation faced by its suppliers, who had been forced to reduce payments once they had agreed on them in the name of “rebates,” but added that the current labor-management negotiations were “proceeding with a slightly different approach.” .
The company said it would “work sincerely” with its suppliers to rebuild relationships of trust, with a view to reducing the increased burden associated with the downward revision of sales numbers and accepting the transfer of labor costs to prices. Ta.
The government, which has been aiming to break out of deflation, hopes to create a “virtuous economic cycle” in which wage increases encourage consumption and push up wages again. The Kishida administration is aiming for a state in which national income growth outpaces inflation by this summer through income tax cuts and other measures. The Bank of Japan, which is looking to normalize monetary policy, has also indicated its intention to use this year’s spring labor union as an important factor in its decision-making.
*Related article[Information box]List of wage increases agreed by labor unions of major companies See more
Maki Shiraki, Anton Bridge, Kentaro Sugiyama, Atsuko Aoyama, Shinichi Uchida, Hitoshi Ishida, Miho Uranaka Edited by: Nobuhiro Kubo, Shiho Tanaka, Ami Miyazaki
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