The labor union of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. for a second consecutive year will not seek a uniform hike in base wages during spring salary negotiations, union officials said Wednesday.

"We want to put the greatest priority on securing employment and stability," said Junjiro Tsuda, head of the NTT labor union.

The decision by Japan's largest private sector labor union, which has around 210,000 members, will be formalized at the union's central committee meeting Friday, the officials said.

The union decided not to set a uniform target in light of the widening difference in performance at the eight companies in the NTT group.

The decision also stems from the restructuring plans for companies, including NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., that involve wage cuts of up to 30 percent and the transfer of around 110,000 workers to lower-paid positions at subsidiaries.

"There are members who will be transferred to other businesses and whose salaries will be drastically lowered. We can't just ask for a hike in salaries for those who remain," Tsuda said.

The NTT labor union's central committee has so far negotiated wages with management for all of its groups, but as of this spring, the negotiation rights will be given to labor union officials at each group company.

Union officials at companies that are doing well plan to seek allowances linked to company performance. NTT DoCoMo Inc. is expected to ask for a 2,000 yen allowance, while NTT Communications Corp. and NTT Data Corp. are expected to request 1,000 yen.

In the spring wage negotiations for 2000, the NTT labor union sought a 1 percent hike in base wages, but failed, since the management demanded a base-wage freeze.

In 2001, the union decided for the first time not seek an increase in base wages, but sought an additional 4,000 yen for workers at NTT DoCoMo and 2,000 yen for workers at NTT Data as performance allowances. Management agreed to a 2,000 yen allowance for NTT DoCoMo and 1,000 yen for NTT Data.