INTERVIEW: Small Makers' Union to Highlight Workers' Plight in "Shunto"

Tokyo, Dec. 30 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese federation of labor unions at small and midsize machinery and metal makers will highlight the plight of workers in next spring's "shunto" annual wage negotiations with the management, its leader, Katahiro Yasukochi, has said.

"We'll show the management side the harsh realities of workers struggling to make ends meet," said Yasukochi, who heads the Japanese Association of Metal, Machinery and Manufacturing Workers, or JAM.

In the 2026 shunto, JAM plans to request a pay scale hike of at least 17,000 yen per month, its largest demand, in hopes of achieving a pay rise that outpaces inflation.

Noting that wage disparities between small and large companies further widened through the 2025 shunto, Yasukochi said in a recent interview that the planned request "embodies our determination not to tolerate any bigger disparities."

"We will approach the negotiations with this determination," he continued.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]