The annual wage negotiations for 2012 take place in a difficult situation marked by the effects of the March 11 disasters, the floods in Thailand, prolonged deflation and the strong yen. Labor and management must search for a wage level that is not only reasonable but also will eventually contribute to strengthening the Japanese economy as a whole.
Kicking off wage negotiations, Mr. Hiromasa Yonekura, head of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), Japan's most influential business lobby, on Jan. 25 met with Mr. Nobuaki Koga, head of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo), Japan's largest labor organization. Rengo seeks to increase the total volume of wages by 1 percent from the previous year.
Mr. Yonekura said that given the current economic situation, such a wage raise is out of the question. He even hinted at freezing the traditional age-linked automatic pay-raise system.