TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) -Two people with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday that Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, will agree to a union’s full request for a raise in wages and bonus payments. This comes as Japan is putting more pressure on businesses to raise pay.
As one of Japan’s largest employers, Toyota has long been a good indicator of how the spring labour talks at big companies are going. Many are expected to end quickly because the government wants to raise wages faster than inflation to make life easier for consumers.
The union federation that represents 357,000 Toyota Group workers said that the base salary increase being asked for would be the biggest in the past 20 years, but it did not say how much it would be.
After the first round of talks, people who were not allowed to talk publicly said that a deal was reached.
The agreement was first reported by the Asahi newspaper. It said that the union had also asked for one-time bonuses worth 6.7 months of wages.
“We know that the talks between management and workers are over, but we can’t say anything about what was talked about right now,” a Toyota spokesperson told Reuters.
Later on Wednesday, the All Toyota Workers’ Union is going to hold a press conference.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been putting more pressure on business leaders to speed up wage increases. He has warned of a return to stagflation if wage increases don’t keep up with the fast rise in prices.
Kishida said at a lower house budget committee meeting on Wednesday, “We will increase consumption and grow domestic demand by pushing for structural wage increases.”
Last month, Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., which owns the huge clothing store Uniqlo, said it would raise pay by up to 40%. This made people think that big manufacturers would offer more at their annual wage talks with unions this spring.
Nintendo Co. Ltd. (TYO: 7974), a company that makes video games, said earlier this month that it was going to raise its workers’ base pay by 10%, even though it was cutting its full-year profit forecast.
