A little more fruit for labor
(From The Japan Times March 17 issue)

今春闘のベースアップ

    Although the overall wage hike offers are lower than demanded by labor, the fact that base wages in major firms have risen for two straight years is encouraging, since the outcome of the spring wage negotiations by those firms and their labor unions set the trend for negotiations in other sectors. But the question remains as to whether the raises are sufficient enough to spur aggregate personal consumption, thus putting the economy on a solid path of growth.

    Among the carmakers, Honda Motor Co. has agreed to a ¥900 raise in basic monthly pay, ¥300 higher than last year but short of the ¥1,000 demanded by its union. Mazda Motor Corp., which offered no wage raises last year, has agreed to increase its basic wage by ¥700. Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's top automaker, has agreed to a basic wage increase of ¥1,000, the same as last year and lower than the union's demand for a ¥1,500 raise.

    Nissan Motor Co. is expected to post decreased operating profits for the first time in seven years. The company, which doesn't have automatic pay raises, has offered a ¥6,700 monthly wage raise, less than both the ¥7,000 demanded by its labor union and the ¥7,000 it offered last year. The labor union of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. did not request wage hikes.

    In the electronics sector, the labor unions demanded a uniform ¥2,000 monthly wage increase. Matsushita Electric Industrial Corp., Toshiba Corp., NEC Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Sharp Corp. and Fujitsu Ltd. have agreed to a ¥1,000 monthly wage hike. The offers point to overall good performances in the sector. Last year, Fujitsu was the only company that offered a ¥1,000 monthly wage raise. Hitachi Ltd. is expected to settle with a raise of around ¥800.

    This year's spring wage negotiations started amid the record long economic recovery in the postwar years. In November 2006, the current expansion went into its 58th consecutive month, topping the last record of 57 months of continuous economic expansion from November 1965 through July 1970, known as the Izanagi boom. But labor has not benefited much from the economic expansion. While executives' salaries have risen steeply and the amount of dividends paid out by major companies have tripled in the past 10 years, labor's share of the wealth has been decreasing since the late 1990s.

    Most households have not felt the benefits of the economic recovery.

    In fact, the Cabinet Office's statistics on real gross domestic product show that in 2006, personal spending increased only by 0.9 percent from the previous year while equipment investment by the corporate sector grew by 7.6 percent from the previous year. GDP deflator, which shows comprehensive price movements, dropped 0.9 percent, showing that the deflationary pressure was still strong.

    Against this background, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and leaders of the ruling Liberal- Democratic Party called business leaders to reflect the corporate sector's high profits in workers' wages. But management insisted on the importance of maintaining Japanese firms' international competitive edge in the midst of intensifying global competition.

    It was reluctant to raise the monthly base wage because such a raise would be permanently embedded in personnel costs, thus raising overall production costs. It argued that when companies realize profits, workers should share the fruit in the form of one-time bonuses.

    The outcome of the wage-raise negotiations shows that management's argument has prevailed to a great extent.

    While the basic wage-raise offers in general fall short of labor's demand, bonus offers are rather generous. Toyota has offered a record ¥2.58 million in bonuses, meeting its union's demand 100 percent, and Honda has offered bonuses equivalent to 6.6 months' wages, just as demanded by its union. Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. has agreed to grant ¥2.46 million in bonuses, more than demanded by its union.

    In addition to overall wage raises, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, Japan's largest labor organization, has sought to narrow the gaps in working conditions between large and small firms, and between regular and irregular workers.

    It is hoped that its member unions will get tangible results on this front as they pursue negotiations.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 24, 2007
(C) All rights reserved

    産業の春闘に影響する自動車・電機の2年連続のベースアップは歓迎すべきだが、これが個人消費を刺激し、経済成長を促進するに十分かどうか定かではない。

    自動車メーカーのベースアップ妥結額は、ホンダ900円（昨年比300円増、組合要求は1,000円）、マツダ700円（昨年はゼロ）、トヨタ1,000円（昨年と同額、組合要求は1,500円）だった。

    今期の営業利益が7年ぶりに減益となる日産自動車は、自動昇給制度を持たないが、賃金改定原資6,700円（組合要求は昨年回答額と同額の7,000円）を回答した。三菱自動車労組は賃上げを要求しなかった。

    電機部門では、各労組は月例賃金の一律2000円増を要求、松下電器、東芝、NEC、三菱電機、シャープ、富士通は1,000円増に同意した。

    今春闘は、戦後最長の好況のなかで始まったが、経営陣への報酬と株式配当が急増する一方で、賃金はあまり増加していなかった。

    内閣府の統計によれば、06年の個人消費の伸びが前年比0.9％増だが、設備投資は7.6％増だった。物価の動向を示すGDPデフレーターはマイナス0.9％と、デフレ圧力が強さを示している。

    安倍首相と自民党執行部は、企業に対し、好調な業績を賃金に反映させるよう求めたが、企業側は国際競争力を強化するのが先決と主張した。

    賃上げで労組要求を満足できない場合、企業は多額のボーナス支払いをする傾向がある。

    連合は、賃上げばかりでなく、正社員と非正社員、大企業と中小企業の従業員の労働条件の格差是正を求めている。