How the 2004 spring joint labor negotiations evolved, and new challenges
The characteristic of this year's spring joint labor negotiations was that a majority of companies settled on a method for curbing hikes in base pay and instead reflecting employee performance in their bonus. Seen from the labor side, this trend constitutes another tough challenge.
There are two factors that make circumstances tough for labor unions.
First is that, this system would most unlikely not reduce the wage gap, which has been widening steadily in recent years, between SMEs and large corporations. SMEs have low wage standards to begin with, and many have no annual wage increase system in place. Thus, if the base salary is kept suppressed, there is no hope that the standard will be raised.
The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) has recently aimed at expanding its organization by conducting labor movements in concert with employees who work in SMEs. It is ironic, however, that the methods used by unions at large corporations to gain wage hikes could not be extended to raising the base pay of smaller corporations.
Second is that not much ripple effect on wage rates, seen in past spring joint labor negotiations, can be expected under this system. Japanese labor unions have, thus far, been criticized as being nothing more than a group of enterprise-based unions. Their longstanding proposition was to think of a way of overcoming the weakness of not being able to determine industry-specific, cross-sectional wages. It appears, however, that the new system has made it even more difficult to solve this problem. In other words, more negotiations are now being conducted individually.
The trend underlying all this may be that labor-management relations, in a broader sense, are becoming even more fragmented.
This year, for the first time, Rengo set as its goal the rectifying of wage differences between SMEs and large corporations. The amount of 5,200 yen was announced separately as the benchmark for wage hike demands by unions of small- to medium-scale businesses as well as by local unions. Later, a settlement criterion of "300 yen or higher over the previous year's level, or 4,300 yen" was announced to boost its programs regarding the wage rates of these smaller unions. As of the end of April, 72.5% of the unions settled with modestly favorable responses, which may indicate that things are proceeding exactly as Rengo had envisioned. However, SMEs, beset with lackluster business, tend to delay submitting their responses, so there is not much room for optimism about future developments and final results.
Nonetheless, if the new attempt succeeds, the likelihood of it expanding further will grow. This shows that this year's spring joint labor negotiations have taken another direction, resulting in yet more new challenges.
（See JLF No.7, Special Issue）
US$=\110 (April 30, 2004)
