Toyota to reject pay-scale hike for 1st time in 4 years

TOKYO, Feb. 18 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to reject its trade union's pay-scale hike demand this
year for the first time in four years in response to the rapid deterioration of
its earnings, company officials said Wednesday.
Other automakers are expected to follow suit, exerting a great influence on
annual spring wage negotiations between labor unions and managers over a wide
range of other industries.
''The demand deviates far from the environment surrounding the company and is
totally unacceptable,'' Toyota Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita said as Toyota's
labor union submitted its demand for a monthly hike of 4,000 yen in the
age-based pay scale, against a 1,500 yen hike sought last year.
Most Japanese auto unions presented wage-hike demands to management on
Wednesday, effectively kicking off this spring's wage talks amid the global
economic slowdown.
The unions, belonging to the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions,
are seen as a pace-setter in each year's labor-management wage negotiations for
all industries.
The confederation earlier decided to seek a monthly hike of at least 4,000 yen
in the age-based pay scale at this year's talks.
The Honda Motor Co. union also demanded a 4,000 yen pay-scale hike, up 3,000
yen from last year's request. But Honda Director Hiroshi Soda described the
figure as ''not understandable.'' ''The labor and management sides have a large
difference in the recognition of the present situation,'' he said.
The Nissan Motor Co. union sought a monthly pay hike of 10,000 yen per
employee, up 3,000 yen from the previous year. The company has shifted from an
age-based pay scale to individual wages based on personal performance.
The Nissan management emphasized the company's survival as its top priority,
and said the main issue is how the labor and management sides share the pain.
The Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. union also demanded a 4,000 yen pay-scale hike,
while the Mitsubishi Motors Corp. union refrained from demanding any hike for
the seventh consecutive year in anticipation of a net group loss estimated for
the year to next month.
In the electronics industry, the Sharp Corp. union presented its demand for a
4,500 yen hike, against 2,000 yen requested last year.
Labor unions at other major electronics manufacturers will submit their
requests Thursday. Unions at such companies as Hitachi Ltd. and Panasonic Corp.
are expected to seek a 4,500 yen raise, as Sharp did Wednesday.
Wage talks will follow in other industries with negotiations culminating on
March 18, when most major companies in Japan will present wage proposals in
response to union demands.
Tough talks are expected in this year's ''spring labor offensive'' as
differences between the labor and management sides are wider than in past
years, with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, demanding the
first pay-scale hike in eight years as well as job security.
The management side has adopted a policy of rejecting any pay-scale hike
demands amid what is being termed the worst recession in 100 years, giving more
priority to maintaining employment.
With Japanese manufacturers shedding nonregular workers from their payrolls at
an accelerating pace, job security for them is regarded as a focal issue in
this year's labor-management negotiations.
But labor unions have failed to come up with effective proposals to ensure
employment for nonregular workers such as those dispatched by manpower
suppliers.
At Toyota which will cut some 5,800 temporary workers by the end of March, the
labor union proposed holding talks on their employment with the management. The
management has agreed to hold such talks, showing its intention to help the
temp workers find new jobs and upgrade job-training programs, the union said.
==Kyodo