Japan labor body to seek hike in minimum hourly wage next year

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, will demand a minimum hourly wage of at least 1,100 yen per hour, compared with the current nationwide average of 901 yen.

What an interesting comment here. Demanding an increase, yet there is no national minimum wage, and that "average" is skewed by Tokyo!

Rengo needs to get to work OUTSIDE of Tokyo!

Rengo should have done it already. This is just appalling, a system with low wages but no gratuities, high cost of living, and tenuous employment security.

From ¥910 to ¥1,100? Whoopee! The ¥980 should be doubled!

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo, will demand a minimum hourly wage of at least 1,100 yen per hour, compared with the current nationwide average of 901 yen.

good but nowhere near enough. AT LEAST 1500 an hour. if not more

From ¥910 to ¥1,100? Whoopee! The ¥980 should be doubled!

I'll second that passionately.

A 22% increase? The union is asking too much. It will put a squeeze on small business who dont have that big money to pay, unlike huge Corporations. Jobs would be then lost. Fortunately inflation is very small (about 0.5%) so a 2% increase in pay is enough.

I think they should change the word "Hike" hike implies a lot of money, a big jump, 10-15-20% if not more, but 2% what? words like pathetic, dismal, insignificant, insulting, and derisory would be better words

Lower it.

raise it and you lower my purchasing power.

Middle-aged eikaiwa teachers rejoice!!!

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says it aims to address regional gaps in the minimum wage and achieve an average hourly pay of 1,000 yen.

This is extraordinarily pathetic. 1000 Yen = about 9$ US.

In other countries 15$ is being suggested as the aspirational target, but in Japan they are only talking about getting barely to half that, despite the labor shortage and high cost of living.

So this is just a voluntary agree between industry and labor organizations? Why isn't there a legally mandated national minimum wage?

Just by comparison, the minimum wage in Australia is $18.50 an hour, which is about double that of Japan. However, the cost of living in Australia is quite high, but it is not double that if Japan.

 It will put a squeeze on small business who dont have that big money to pay, unlike huge Corporations. Jobs would be then lost.

This is a line rolled out anywhere in the world when the minimum wage is raised.  And solid evidence shows that it does not result in job losses.  A complete fallacy.  Minimum wage employers will continue to be minimum wage employers - they just have to pay a little more.  Yes, your cappuccino might cost an extra 20 yen but you can enjoy it in the knowledge that the lowest paid have had a pay rise. 

Probably a good time for Japan (and Rengo) to move away from the minimum wage scenario and start campaigning for the "Living Wage" as has been done successfully in a number of developed countries.

Rengo, while representing workers in principle (love that oft used govt expression), they have no guts and fawn to the powers that be, whether Big Inc or Govt.

Workers rights in this country - and I mean real rights not paper rights - have been stood on for ages now.

If there ever was a strong case for the re-emergence of real unions that truly considered workers (instead of the current crop fawning to the hierarchy), now is the time.

This country needs to "Get Real" and realize that it's the common folk who are necessary for the future, not the elites with their self-interest machinations, procrastinations and myopic deliberations.

In my prefecture with a minimum wage of about ￥760/hour, I have no idea how people survive.

I'd support a rise up.

Middle-aged eikaiwa teachers rejoice!!!

Entry level for most Eikaiwa teachers is around 250,000 / mo.

@160 hrs/mo. that works out to 1562 yen per hour. Raising the minimum wage from 900 to 1100 is a 22% increase. Apply that to new English teachers and they get 305,000 / month.

A middle-aged eikaiwa teacher hopefully makes more. I am middle aged and my teaching income is around 500,000 / month. Why would I rejoice in seeing this minimum wage increase? Cost of living continues to rise, eroding my buying power. Japan needs more deflation.

Internationally Japan is becoming less competitive on wages thus the lack of interest from foreigners to make Japan a work destination.

Quite an easy task for the Japanese government to give the younger Japanese a start in life (with higher wages)but they selfishly refuse to do so!

Perhaps they are hoping that less industrialized countries will be content to see their workers jet off to low pay, high living costs and scant foreign worker protection?

So far, this has not been the case...

Entry level for most Eikaiwa teachers is around 250,000 / mo.

That was the case 20 years ago when I taught in Eikaiwa (GEOS). Its been a long time, but my understanding from conversation is that wages are way lower now than they were back then.

Minimum wage is supposed to be for starters (students, new job, etc).

If you can't improve your efficiency (anyone can study for free nowadays with the net) even a bit, it is called laziness.

No wonder , no brains wants to work in Japan.

Tokyo: ¥985

Osaka: ¥936

Saitama: ¥898

Aichi: ¥898

Chiba: ¥895

Kyoto: ¥882

Hyogo: ¥871

Shizuoka: ¥858

Mie: ¥846

Hiroshima: ¥844

Top 10 minimum wages by prefectures.

The problem with raising minimum wage is that small businesses suffer as well. I prefer making a cost of living increase annually a mandatory thing. Wages are either staying the same or decreasing yet taxes and inflation keeps rising.

Here in the UK I have to pay 1812 yen an hour just to get labours, if not no one will get out of bed! and for any one who is skilled, double it.

Brian Wheway you may get a labourer to hammer a nail into a wall for some £15 an hour, but not an entry level software engineer. I know I employ some 300 of them.

Just get an Indian sw engineer to do the job for 10 US an hour-simple.

We need to do it all over the world. There's too much economic stratification in Japan, the US and elsewhere. It's damn near impossible to get anywhere today unless you're from a filthy rich family and that's a sin.