The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) said Monday it will demand both employment stability and wage hikes in this year's wage bargaining to put the faltering economy back on a recovery path.
"Without demanding both wage (hikes) and job (stability), we would not be able to put (the economy) back on track for recovery," Tsuyoshi Takagi, head of Rengo, the nation's largest trade union, said at a new year press conference in Tokyo.
While many labor unions are expected to demand drastic pay increases, management has been reluctant about wage hikes due to the economic slowdown.
In this spring's annual "shunto," or spring wage bargaining, Rengo plans to demand basic wage hikes for the first time in eight years.
Rengo decided in December to demand increases to meet price rises after prolonged deflation. It expects the rate of increase in consumer prices to stand at about 1.5 percent for fiscal 2008 ending this March.
"Some may question why we are demanding wage hikes in the current (economic) situation, but we have no other choice but to urge both employment stability and increases in pay," Takagi said.
"How can we expect domestic demand to increase when household income is dwindling?" he asked, adding that he views wage hikes as "the surest way" to revive the economy.
On the increasing number of job cuts Takagi said company management "should be able to do something before dismissing them."