TOKYO: Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. on Wednesday showed its readiness to approve the biggest pay hike since it shifted to the current style of “shunto” spring wage talks in 2005.

The management plans to fully accept the labor union’s demand for a 12,000-yen pay increase per month in this year’s shunto talks, giving full approval for the third consecutive year.

Nissan also plans to accept in full the labor side’s demand for an annual bonus equivalent to 5.5 months’ salary. The management will formally notify the decisions to labor March 15.

Also on Wednesday, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said that the management has agreed to raise monthly wages by 13,000 yen as requested by labor.

Many companies are scheduled to announce their response to labor demands March 15.

But major automakers have already made the move. Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. announced last month their decisions to meet labor demands in full.

“Investments in human resources will be a source of our competitiveness over the medium to long term,” Nissan President Makoto Uchida said during labor-management negotiations Wednesday.

He indicated a readiness to fully accept labor’s request in consideration of rapid inflation.

Mitsubishi Motors fully accepted the labor request for the second consecutive year, including for annual bonuses equivalent to six months’ pay for this year. On the bonuses, the company announced its decision March 1.

Based on their decisions, Nissan and Mitsubishi are expected to raise annual pay, including bonuses, by 5.2 pct and 9 pct, respectively.

JIJI Press