Toyota and Honda, two of the most prominent car companies in Japan, say they have agreed to give their Japanese workers the biggest pay raises in decades.
As prices go up, they are the latest companies in the world’s third-largest economy to raise wages.
According to official numbers, Japan’s inflation rate hit its highest level in more than 40 years last month.
Businesses and the government have had to help because people can only buy so much.
Most Japanese companies talk with unions about pay for a few weeks every year before deciding in the middle of March.
Why did this year’s news come out earlier than usual? The car companies have not said.
Wednesday, Toyota said it would meet union demands for pay and bonuses, with wages going up by the most in 20 years.
Koji Sato, who will become president of Toyota, said he hoped the change would be good for Japan’s auto industry and “lead to honest talks between labor and management at each company.”
When the BBC asked the company for more details, the company said no.
In the meantime, rival car company Honda told journalists that it had “fully answered” union requests for wage increases and bonuses.
The company said salaries would increase by 5%, more than Japan’s inflation rate and the most since 1990...Read More
Source: New York Wire