“Shunto” Spring Wage Talks Kick Off in Japan

Tokyo, Jan. 27 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, held a meeting of their leaders on Tuesday, effectively marking the start of this year’s “shunto” spring wage talks. At the meeting in Tokyo, Keidanren Chairman Yoshinobu Tsutsui and Rengo President Tomoko Yoshino shared the view that it is important to cement the momentum for wage increases. The focus of the latest negotiations is whether the wage hike trend will be maintained after achieving pay increases of 5 pct or more for two consecutive years in the 2025 shunto talks, so that wage growth will outpace inflation. “There is a very strong consensus on Keidanren’s basic policy that strong momentum for wage hikes needs to be further established,” Tsutsui said at the beginning of the meeting. “We hope to deepen mutual understanding and work together through frank exchanges of opinions,” he said. Rengo’s Yoshino said, “I believe there is almost no contradiction in the basic recognition between labor and management.” “We want to further deepen this understanding in labor-management negotiations to ensure results,” she added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]