Keidanren Hosts Labor-Management Forum, Kicking Off 2024 Shuntō Negotiations
The Japan Business Federation, also known as Keidanren, hosted a labor-management forum in Tokyo on Friday, marking the official start of this year's spring wage negotiations, known as Shuntō. The central question looming over these negotiations is whether the robust pay increases witnessed among large firms in 2023 will extend to smaller businesses.
While the 2023 Shuntō talks resulted in an overall salary increase of over 5%, hikes at small and mid-sized companies, which constitute approximately 70% of Japan's workforce, fell significantly below the average. This year, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), the umbrella organization for labor unions, is demanding an overall wage increase of at least 5%, including pay-scale adjustments, with a specific focus on a 6% or higher increase for small and mid-sized firms.
The forum serves as a platform for representatives from both labor unions and management to exchange views and lay the groundwork for the upcoming negotiations. The outcome of these discussions will have a significant impact on wage levels across various sectors and play a crucial role in shaping Japan's economic landscape.
7 Comments
Rotfront
This forum is a positive step towards improving the lives of workers in Japan.
Matzomaster
I hope that this is just the beginning of a long-term trend of improving wages in Japan.
Rotfront
I'm glad that the unions are demanding a higher increase for small and mid-sized firms.
lettlelenok
The unions need to be more militant. We need to strike until we get what we want.
ytkonos
I'm proud to be a part of a society that values its workers.
dedus mopedus
This is just another way for big corporations to control the workers. They don't care about small businesses or their employees.
Loubianka
Wage increases are essential for stimulating the economy and improving living standards.