NAGOYA: Toyota Motor Corp.’s labor union said Tuesday it plans to make the largest wage hike request in the past 20 years in this year’s “shunto” spring pay talks.

Toyota Motor Workers’ Union did not disclose the exact average amount of its wage hike request per unionized worker.

The labor union’s leadership presented its shunto plans to members. The plans include a request for a pay-scale increase.

The Toyota union did not disclose whether it had asked for a pay-scale increase in the 2021 and 2022 shunto talks. The change in the approach is designed to encourage other labor unions to make requests for pay-scale increases.

The Toyota union’s pay hike demands, set for each of 15 job types and grades, range from 3,570 yen to 9,370 yen.

The labor union will urge Toyota to raise its starting pay. “People who will be negatively affected by higher prices are those with lower wage levels,” Katsuyoshi Nishino, leader of the labor union, said.

It will also call for wage hikes for seasonal workers and part-timers.

The labor union will demand annual bonuses equivalent to 6.7 months’ salary, lower than 6.9 months in the previous year, as the automaker projects smaller profit for the year through March.

The Toyota union plans to adopt the wage hike requests on Feb. 8 and present them to Toyota’s management on Feb. 15.

In the 2022 shunto talks, Toyota fully accepted the union’s demands for monthly pay hikes between 1,600 yen and 4,900 yen per worker, and annual bonuses worth 6.9 months’ salary.

JIJI Press