Tokyo: Honda Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. said Wednesday that they will fully meet their respective labor unions’ demands for higher monthly wages and bonuses.

The announcement came on the day that labor-management negotiations on the labor side’s pay demands kicked off at major Japanese automakers.

Honda will raise monthly wages by 20,000 yen, including a pay-scale increase of 13,500 yen. Combined with a 1,500-yen skill development allowance agreed in 2022, the overall pay hike will reach 5.6 percent.

The wage increase will be Honda’s largest since at least 1989. Honda hopes to attract excellent workers by sharing its record-high earnings with its employees, at a time when companies in a wide range of industries are raising wages amid inflation.

Honda also expects that its early response to the union’s demands, without waiting for March 13, when most responses from the management side are expected, will encourage its group companies to raise wages.

For the second year in a row, Honda agreed to fully meet wage demands in the first round of negotiations with the union side since the demands were submitted, and offered to raise wages by more than 5 percent.

Honda also agreed to pay annual bonuses of a record 7.1 months’ salary.

Meanwhile, Mazda agreed to raise monthly wages by 16,000 yen on average and pay annual bonuses of 5.6 months’ salary. Its overall pay hike will reach 6.8 percent, which the automaker said will be the largest hike since its current personnel system was introduced in 2003.

On the same day, Toyota Motor Corp. did not give a response to its union’s pay demands at its first labor-management meeting for this year’s wage talks. Last year, it offered to fully meet the labor side’s demands in the first round of pay negotiations. But in light of recent vehicle testing scandals at group companies including Daihatsu Motor Co., Toyota will prioritize discussions on improving the workplace environment.

This year, the Toyota union is seeking monthly wage hikes of 7,940 yen to 28,440 yen per person and annual bonuses of 7.6 months’ salary.

JIJI Press