The labor union of NTT Corp. formally announced its decision Monday not to seek -- for the fourth straight year -- an across-the-board pay-scale hike in spring wage talks.
Japan's largest corporate union made the decision because the NTT group's overall earnings positions were not solid enough, according to union officials.
NTT outstripped Toyota Motor Corp. as the nation's most profitable company in terms of operating profit for the fiscal first half, due to strong earnings by NTT DoCoMo Inc.
But its two regional carriers, NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., are facing a sharp fall in revenues from their mainstay land-line phone operations.
The NTT union consists of eight branches, one at each of NTT's eight major group companies.