Japan’s top labour union body says its members seek 6.11% average wage hike

JAPAN’S UA Zensen, a labour union group representing retail, restaurant and other industry unions, said on Wednesday that its member unions are seeking an average wage hike of 6.11 per cent for their full-time employees in the 2025 wage negotiations.

The figure outpaces the baseline 6 per cent increase target set by UA Zensen in January, signalling solid momentum for the annual labour talks which 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 per cent, also outpacing the union group’s baseline 7 per cent target. The group has set a higher target for part-time workers than that for regular workers to narrow the growing income gap.

Talks between management and labour unions over the 2025 wage levels typically conclude around mid-March, and go into effect in a few months afterwards.

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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has made wage hikes a top priority. The Bank of Japan also scrutinises the annual wage negotiations, keen to see solid wage growth underpin the economy as it moves to normalise its ultra-easy monetary policy. REUTERS