Industry officials say there will be a contrast in the imminent results of labor-management talks on wages and bonuses for 2005 between high-performance firms like Toyota Motor Corp. and other companies affected by high-profile scandals.
The annual "shunto" spring wage negotiations have reached their most important stage, with management at most major firms set to respond to their unions' demands Wednesday.
To what extent these firms will agree to their unions' bonus demands is now under scrutiny; many unions have given up calling for rises in basic wage scales, according to industry officials.