EDITORIAL: Spring labor offensive

This year's shunto annual labor negotiations have been so subdued that some management officials described the quiet as "eerie."

While wage negotiations have entered crucial stages for the first half of the spring labor offensive, companies have yet to present answers to the new problem of rectifying the disparity between regular and nonregular employees.

Managers of major manufacturers in the auto, electronics and steel industries submitted their responses to labor unions' demands for pay raises Wednesday.

Amid ongoing deflation, labor unions focused their demands on securing mandatory raises in monthly wages. In response to the gradual recovery in the performances of export-oriented businesses, many major companies met the unions' demand for monthly wage hikes.

However, many companies have refused to fully accept requests concerning bonuses, leading to a potentially fierce battle between labor and management.

Service industry companies, such as private railroads that depend on domestic demand, have yet to make offers.

Some unions are demanding basic pay-scale increases in addition to regular pay raises. We urge companies that have the means to meet the unions' demands to accept them as much as possible.

Wage negotiations of medium and small companies will also advance. While many smaller companies have not institutionalized regular pay raises, we hope companies that can afford to meet the demands will reward their employees.

Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) should make a greater effort in publicizing information concerning settlements.

This year's shunto, which Rengo says is "for all workers," is once again questioning the way employment should be. How should the double-tiered structure of regular and nonregular employees be overcome?

Many companies have only just begun to grasp the actual situation at their workplaces, but we hope their moves will lead to the creation of a new Japanese-style employment system.

The traditional Japanese-style employment system was symbolized by lifetime employment and a seniority-based pay scale for regular employees. The system was effective in encouraging both blue- and white-collar workers to fully demonstrate their skills and further improve them. That is also why it became so popular.

However, since the bursting of the asset-inflated economic bubble, management has increasingly regarded some workers not as human resources but simply as "labor force" and "costs," resulting in an increase in the number of nonregular employees.

We must not sit back and do nothing as we stand at a crossroads of changing times. That must be how management and labor of many companies are beginning to feel.

Isn't there a way to build a new employment system that allows all workers to fully demonstrate their abilities in this age of employment mobility?

A few companies are trying to bridge the gap between regular and nonregular workers. Managers of such companies strongly believe they should make the best use of the abilities of all workers. They also have a vision to use the energy of the entire company as leverage to raise their companies to a higher level.

Perhaps companies that are slow to react are so busy dealing with their financial difficulties that they have no time to develop such visions. Still, efforts to rectify the disparity in employment may be a key to enhancing the competitiveness of companies as a whole.

The government should support such efforts through tax systems and policies.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 19