Employers negotiate with trade unions in the 2019 Spring Labor Offensive. On March 13 many companies announced replies of the management side. The results were poorer than those of last offensive. Automobile industry unions did not request a wage hike in a unified manner. The management of Toyota again did not announce publicly a base salary hike, following last year. Unions in the electric industry demanded to raise wage by \3,000 a month and the result was \1,000, which is lower by \500 from the previous figure.

Poorer Results

Workers of big companies enjoy a basic salary hike, which has continued consecutively for six years, but in the manufacturing sector, even big corporations set lower figures than those of last year.

Concerning restaurant industry and distribution industry in which labor shortage is serious, the management side announced bigger hikes than those of last year. According to the first-round statistics compiled by the Rengo, a national center of trade unions, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the results are almost the same as those of last year, being 2.16%.

The Rengo Chairman Kozu Rikio told March 15 that negotiation would continue, especially, in the small-and-medium sized companies and that the national center would watch processes carefully so that workers could gain better results. The confederation, however, admitted behaviors of Toyota’s unions which veiled their demands and breakdowns; figures of a basic salary hike, an annual regular hike and allowances. Unions of Toyota used to lead other unions, but they did not announce these figures publicly this year, either.

The so-called Law to Reform Work-Style

The Abe government, engaging in a campaign of ‘a society in which all 100 million people can work actively’, has enacted a series of laws in the ordinary session of Diet last year. It is intended to reform work practices so that employers’ demands may be rightly met; to improve productivity and heighten a labor participation rate. The government copes with shortage of workforce, which comes from the aging population with fewer births, relying on the so-called concept of Society 5.0. It seeks for working habits to fit the new era.

The government plans to reorganize business entities into a new structure; it tolerates wage discrepancies stemming from a company size and employment terms, taking advantage of a Japanese version of an equal-pay-for-equal-job rule. That is to have employers establish criteria of professional capacity of employees and set up a personnel assessment system.

The government emphasizes better productivity to survive in the global competitions; that means excluding incapable workers is right.

The Nikkei newspaper says in the March 14 commentary with a title of ‘Cut Off Root Causes that Prevent Wage Hikes’: ‘a company needs to develop productivity by appraising employees who show good job performance’. The paper asserts it essential to bring in a wage system relying on worker’s ability and performance.

Employers think a universal wage system is unhelpful in the today’s changing society and that it is necessary to hastily establish a wage structure to prefer workers of better performance and to build up a flexible labor market so as to intensify growth power. The management demands to broaden a flexible work hour practice and deregulate rules to fire workers through a money settlement. This is the intention.

The 2019 labor offensive is held simultaneously when the management asserts to reform work-style.

United Struggle of Workers

Wage negotiation continues in the small-and-medium-sized companies. A wage hike is socially necessary. At the same time workers must fight in unity, which is the starting point of Spring Labor Offensive.

Mass struggles based on workers’ demands are imperative, whether workers belong to the Rengo or other trade unions. United struggles are the sole way to successfully rebuild class-conscious labor movement.

Let’s strengthen solidarity of workers in each local community.

April 2, 2019