Japan's union group Rengo announces biggest wage hikes on record (updated)
22/03/2024 09:13
(Adds Rengo quote in paragraph 6, background paragraphs 4,5,7)
By Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japanese firms have agreed
to raise pay by 5.25% this year, the biggest rise under
comparable data since 2013, the country's largest union group
Rengo confirmed on Friday.
The results of the closely-watched wage negotiations are
announced in several stages, in which the blue-chip firms are
first to wrap up their talks in mid-March.
The second announcement on the outcome of annual labour
talks on Friday was little changed from a preliminary figure of
5.28% a week ago, indicating the strength of wage growth. The
agreed hike of 5.25% corresponds to an average rise of 16,379
yen a month.
As a number of companies, small firms in particular, reach
agreements on pay towards April-June, the average growth of pay
hikes tend to become smaller than the initial round as more
announcement becomes available.
Further results are scheduled to be released on April 4 and
April 18, when more small firms come up with their results.
"We will examine how broad the trend of wage hikes is
spreading at a meeting on April 4," Akira Nidaira, a senior
Rengo official told a news conference.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said the government is
counting on wage hikes to trickle down to smaller and
medium-sized firms, which account for 99.7% of all enterprises
and about 70% of Japan's workforce, but many lack the pricing
power to pass higher costs to customers.
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Himani
Sarkar;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
((tetsushi.kajimoto@thomsonreuters.com;))