TOKYO: Japan’s UA Zensen, a labour union group representing retail, restaurant and other industry unions, says that its member unions are seeking an average wage hike of 6.11% for their full-time employees in the 2025 wage negotiations.
The figure outpaces the baseline 6% increase target set by UA Zensen in January, signalling solid momentum for the annual labour talks that have been closely watched by policymakers.
The level of the average increase sought was almost the same as last year, when Japanese companies agreed to the biggest increase in three decades.
UA Zensen is Japan’s largest industry union group with 1.9 million workers at 2,200 companies, including retail conglomerate Aeon, Takeda Pharmaceutical and Toray Industries.
For part-time workers, wage increases asked for by the UA Zensen member unions averaged 7.16%, also outpacing the union group’s baseline 7% target. — Reuters
