０９年春闘―雇用最優先に仕切り直せ

2008/12/19

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 18(IHT/Asahi: December 19,2008)

EDITORIAL: Spring labor talks

０９年春闘―雇用最優先に仕切り直せ

The 2009 shunto spring labor negotiations took off with nonregular workers--and now full-time employees--feeling insecure about their jobs.

　雇用危機が正社員へも及び始めたなかで、０９年の春闘がスタートした。

Rengo (Japanese Trade Union Confederation) decided on its tactics for the talks in November. Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) put together its guidelines for the annual negotiations on Tuesday. Both labor and management have made their positions clear.

すでに闘争方針を決めた連合に続いて、日本経団連も春闘の指針をまとめ、労使の立場が出そろった。 

The centerpiece of Rengo's strategy is "the first demand for a raise in the basic pay scale in eight years." But under the current economic conditions, securing jobs is an urgent and most important objective. The government should also work with unions and management to stabilize the labor situation.

　連合は「８年ぶりのベースアップ要求」を目玉にした。だがいまは、雇用を守ることが緊急で最大の課題ではないか。労使に政府も加わって、雇用対策に全力で取り組むべきだ。 

This year, year-on-year growth in the core consumer price index temporarily topped 2 percent while wages declined in value. Labor's share in company profits also fell for six straight years.

　今年は消費者物価の上昇率が一時２％を突破し、賃金が目減りした。労働分配率も６年連続で低下している。

The prevailing view among union officials was that a demand for a raise in the basic pay scale would be natural. Rengo maintained its demand for a pay-scale increase even as the financial crisis worsened.

「だからベア要求は当然」という空気の中で春闘の準備が進められた。

Rengo's logic was that higher wages would "support domestic demand to make up for rapidly declining external demand."

金融危機が深まっても、「急減する外需を補うために内需を支える」という論理でベア要求が維持された。 

Rengo apparently feared that switching its emphasis from pay hikes to job security would be taken to mean it weakened its stance, playing into management's hands. And that would undermine Rengo's negotiating power.

　「ベアより雇用」へ切り替えると、要求のハードルを下げて経営側の土俵に乗ることになり、春闘の求心力が失われるとも心配したようだ。 

Of course, Rengo is also paying attention to job security, but it attaches greater importance to demanding government measures in this regard.

　もちろん雇用にも目は配っているものの、政府による対策を求めることに重心が置かれている。 

Nippon Keidanren is set to reject demands for the pay-scale increase. Furthermore, the business group downgraded job security from a "top priority objective" to a "target to reach." The management side is also urging the government to implement measures to secure jobs.

　一方の経営側は、ベア要求は当然のごとく退ける構えだ。さらに雇用の安定についても、初めに検討されていた「最優先の目標」から「努力目標」へ格下げした。こちらも政府による雇用対策を求める大合唱である。

The government's employment support measures are, of course, necessary, but efforts by both labor and management are also indispensable. If the annual negotiations enter the key stage with both sides sticking to their current stances, we fear that efforts to secure employment could be sidelined.

　政府による雇用対策が大切なのは言うまでもないが、労使の取り組みも不可欠だ。このまま春闘が本番を迎えると、労使の主張がかみ合わないまま、雇用への取り組みが二の次になるのではないか、と心配になる。 

At this juncture, Rengo should review its strategy and focus on employment security as a whole, including jobs for nonregular workers. Even if its demand for a hike in the basic pay scale is met for full-time employees, workers will not be able to support domestic demand if jobs for nonregular employees are cut.

　連合はこの際、非正規を含む雇用全体の安定に焦点を絞り直すべきだ。仮に方針通り正社員のベアが実現しても、一方で非正規を中心に雇用がどんどん削られては、内需の下支えにはならない。

The major challenge for Rengo is to prevent the collapse of domestic demand by protecting employment as a whole. It is important to bring management to the table and make job security the top priority.

全体の雇用を守ることで内需の崩壊をどう防ぐかが問われている。経営側を「雇用最優先」の土俵へ引きずり込むことが大事なのだ。 

Amid deregulation and an increase in the number of foreign shareholders, Japanese-style management underwent a change and is now eager to secure immediate profits even at the cost of cutting jobs. Should it carry on this way? The ongoing financial crisis provides a test.

　日本の経営は、規制緩和や外国株主の増加を背景に、目先の業績確保のためには雇用削減もいとわない体質へと変わってきた。このままでいいのか、この金融危機で問い直されている。 

Companies should try to attain growth while striking a balance with shareholders, workers and other stakeholders. It is time to seek such a new management model.

　株主や働き手をはじめとするさまざまな利害関係者のバランスをとりながら成長を図る。そんな新しい経営モデルを模索すべき時代に入った。

In the past, company officials in charge of labor affairs thought about employment in the context of the national economy and society as a whole. Cutting jobs was a last resort and a painful task.

　かつて企業の労務担当には、国民経済や社会全体の中で雇用を考え、人員削減は苦悩しつつ最後に回す伝統があった。

We are not saying that we should go back to the old days. Rather, what is now important is to restore that tradition in a way that meets the new age.

単純に昔に返れとはいわない。新時代に合った形で伝統を復活させることがポイントではないか。 

How should we build a new management philosophy and systems that attach importance to employment? Labor and management should work together to come up with an answer. We need efforts so that, in a few years from now, we can look back and say, "That shunto changed Japanese management."

　雇用を大切にする新しい経営の理念や仕組みをどう再構築するか。労使が徹底的に知恵を出し合う。振り返って「あの春闘で日本の経営は変わった」といわれるような取り組みが必要だ。