National / Politics | FYI Dec 8, 2020
In shift, Toyota unions seek ties with Japan's ruling bloc
by Eric Johnston
The groups’ move toward Komeito and the LDP could hurt opposition candidates from the CDP and other parties.
Business / Economy Nov 19, 2020
Japan’s top union federation to demand wage raises despite pandemic
by Toru Fujioka
Rengo chief Rikio Kozu has indicated he’ll push for a 4% wage increase, including base pay.
Business Feb 20, 2020
Spread of COVID-19 casts shadow over Japan's shuntō wage talks
The widening outbreak of the new coronavirus originating in China has started to affect annual shuntō wage negotiations. Tougher wage talks are expected this year, with management increasingly cautious about agreeing to pay hikes amid growing concerns over corporate performance. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or ...
Business Feb 7, 2020
Japan firms slowly moving away from old ways on recruitment and pay
by Junko Horiuchi
Japan's unique, long-held employment practices characterized by annual new graduate recruitment, lifetime jobs and seniority-based pay raises have helped support economic growth in the postwar period. But many major companies have begun to question whether to continue with the decades-old system at a time when ...
Business Dec 3, 2019
Japanese labor union federation to demand minimum hourly wage of ¥1,100
In talks slated to begin next month, Rengo will seek to narrow the wage disparity between regular and nonregular workers as well as between small and large firms.
Editorials Nov 24, 2019
Thirty years on, there remain many hurdles that Rengo must overcome.
National Nov 18, 2019
Survey shows 11% of Japan firms have rules on the height of women's heels
In an apparently discriminatory practice, 11.1 percent of companies in Japan have in-house rules on the height of heeled shoes worn by female employees in the workplace, a survey by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, has revealed. The survey results come at a ...
Business Oct 24, 2019
Japan union federation to demand minimum wage of ¥1,100, up from current average of ¥901
Japan's largest labor organization is set to seek a hike in the average hourly minimum wage at annual negotiations with employers next year in a bid to narrow wage gaps, sources close to the matter have said. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, ...
Business Mar 11, 2019
Japan's workforce can expect smaller raises this year as companies push back against Abe
by Toru Fujioka
Japan Inc. is pushing back after years of pressure to give bigger pay raises that has been a key part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign to restore stable economic growth. While wages have never reached the level sought by Abe, the results from annual ...
National / Social Issues Oct 18, 2018
Abe wants foreigners to bolster Japan's shrinking workforce but finds vocal resistance
by Isabel Reynolds
A strict immigration policy has helped make Japan one of the world's oldest and most homogeneous societies. Now, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to invite as many as half a million foreign workers is testing the country's tolerance for change. Abe is preparing to introduce ...
Editorials Mar 24, 2018
Companies should share more of their earnings with employees as a strategic investment in manpower that supports their future business.
Editorials Jan 25, 2018
It's time for Japanese businesses to ask whether the collective form of annual wage negotiations serve their interests as they face increasingly tough global competition.