Toyota, Honda Accept Labor Side's Pay Demands in Full

Nagoya, Feb. 22 (Jiji Press)--Toyota Motor Corp. <7203> and Honda Motor Co. <7267> separately said Wednesday that they have fully accepted the labor side's demands for pay hikes in this year's "shunto" negotiations.

The two major Japanese automakers wrapped up their shunto talks ahead of March 15, when many employers are expected to respond to the labor side, apparently hoping that their decisions will add momentum for pay increase across industry.

"This year's salaries and bonuses will be fully in line with the union's request," incoming Toyota President Koji Sato said in the first round of negotiations with the union in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan.

This is the third year in a row that Toyota fully accepted the union's pay hike demand, and the first time that its Shunto negotiations were concluded in the first round.

"We hope that the outcome of our negotiations will lead to a virtuous circle in the auto and other industries," Takaaki Sakagami, deputy secretary-general of the Federation of All Toyota Workers' Unions, told an online press conference.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]