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| August 16, 2011 |
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| Minimum Wage Agreed in Fiscal 2011 |
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An approximate amount to increase the minimum wage was set recently on the prefectural level: a six-Yen hike on the average across the country. The minimum wage indicates the lowest income for a worker to survive. Out of 47 prefectures of the nation in the thirty eight prefectures the increase is as low as by one Yen. In what way can a worker survive with an annual income of 1.2-1.3 million Yen?
No Change in Minimum Wage in 38 Prefectures
Average Wage Increase - Only Six Yen
A hike in the minimum wage is only by six Yen on the average across the country in the fiscal 2011. In the last fiscal it was 730 Yen per hour after being raised by seventeen Yen from the level of previous year. It was agreed to attain 800 Yen in the early years to come before 2020 as a short-term target. The goal had been set at a thousand Yen on the average nationwide in harmony with the rehabilitation rate of economy.
The agreement, however, is cancelled as the March 11 disaster is used as an excuse. The increase was only by one Yen in many regions, not only in the disaster-hit prefectures but also others. Workers are robbed of means to rebuild their livings as the idea of employers takes the superior position: the main player for reconstruction from the disaster is business corporations and employment is ensured by employers.
In the 38 prefectures, including three disaster-hit provinces, the increase is only by one Yen. Over ten-Yen hike is recorded in three prefectures: Hokkaido by 13 Yen, Tokyo by 16 Yen and Kanagawa by 18 Yen. The short-term target of 800 Yen is reached in two prefectures: Tokyo for 837 Yen and Kanagawa for 836 Yen.
Nevertheless, Tokyo and Kanagawa are among the nine prefectures in which the minimum wage has been lower than the income level of a person eligible to apply for benefits of the government program of Life Protection. The adverse phenomena have been altered by the current increases in the provinces of Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. But even after four years of implementation of the revised Minimum Wage Act, in Hokkaido, Miyagi, Saitama, Kanagawa, Osaka and Hyogo prefectures the wage is still lower than the applicability for Life Protection benefits.
On the other hand, however, in the prefectures of Saga, Nagasaki, Miyazaki, Kagoshima and Okinawa the minimum wage is as low as 643 Yen, which is far below than the nation's average, but the level is not below the Life Protection eligibility.
Poverty is remarkable in the big cities. Wages are too low. According to a survey made by the National Taxation Agency, the number of people whose annual income is below 2 million Yen counts 11 million, or 1/4 of the total workers.
The crucial task is to reduce poor workers to zero to assure sound economic and social development. A worker employed with a wage 800 Yen an hour has an annual income of 1.5-1.6 million Yen at the most. It is impossible for him/her to economize further living costs.
Social development halts as long as employers cling to vested interests; to pay taxes as low as possible and cut the labor cost as much as possible.
Mutually Related - On Local and Industry Levels
If the initial wage paid to a newly employed worker surges, the bottom wages of other workers are raised in parallel. That will reflect on the minimum wage in a specific industry. The General Federation of Private Railways & Bus Workers Unions set the monthly minimum wage for this year as 130,800 Yen for workers in the provinces where the local minimum wage is lower than the industry's decision. Yet, if this figure is calculated on the hour basis, it is only 752 Yen.
Tokyo and Kanagawa are the sole prefectures where the local minimum wage exceeds the private railway union's minimum of 130,800 Yen: 142,690 Yen for Tokyo and 142,168 Yen for Kanagawa.
To raise the minimum wage on the local level means to push up the industry's wage level. Unity of workers is crucial. Without intensifying movements at workplaces, a wage hike can be impossible.
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