JAPAN: Due to the persisting recession in Japan, the Japanese Electrical, Electronics and Information Union (Denki Rengo) and the Japan Federation of Steelworkers' Unions (Tekko Roren) have both announced that they will not call for a basic wage hike in the upcoming 2002 "Shunto", or spring wage negotiations. Priority, instead, will be placed on safeguarding and stabilising jobs and maintaining current wage levels. The Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers (JAM) said that it, too, plans to pursue a similar policy.
The autoworkers' union (Jidosha Soren) and the union representing shipbuilding and engineering workers (Zosen Juki Roren), however, are expected to request an increase in basic pay in their negotiations, although they are demanding a record low of 1,000 yen (US$7.47) per month.
The above-mentioned federations are affiliated to the 2.5 million-strong Japan Council of Metalworkers' Unions - IMF-JC.