春闘集中回答 賃上げの裾野をどう広げるか

The Yomiuri Shimbun March 13, 2014
Shunto wage hikes must become a rising tide that lifts all boats
春闘集中回答　賃上げの裾野をどう広げるか（3月13日付・読売社説）

Major manufacturing corporations have offered large increases in their employees’ base wages in response to demands from their labor unions. The large offers in the manufacturing sector—taken as a trendsetter in annual spring wage negotiations between labor and management—are the first in several years.
　春闘相場に影響を与える製造業大手は、久しぶりに大幅な賃上げを労働組合に回答した。

It is important to ensure that the wage increases in the manufacturing sector will encourage labor and management in other, non-manufacturing businesses to make similar pay-hike agreements. This is a crucial part of ensuring that the results of this year’s shunto negotiations are translated into meaningful benefits for ordinary household finances.
　家計への恩恵を大きくするには、非製造業などに賃上げをいかに波及させるかが課題となる。

The trend toward wage increases in this year’s shunto talks has been set by Toyota Motor Corp. and other major carmakers, as well as 10 electric manufacturing corporations, including Hitachi, Ltd. These businesses have decided to raise their workers’ base salaries for the first time in six years, after hikes were halted in the wake of the so-called Lehman shock in the autumn of 2008.
　トヨタ自動車をはじめ自動車大手と、日立製作所など電機１０社は、２００８年秋のリーマン・ショック以来、６年ぶりに基本給を底上げするベースアップ（ベア）の実施に踏み切った。

The nation’s second-largest carmaker, Nissan Motor Co., has offered a base wage hike of ¥3,500 in addition to systematic increases in annual salaries, fully meeting the demands of its organized labor. Meanwhile, Toyota’s offer stood at ¥2,700, its highest increase since 2000.
　日産自動車は満額回答の３５００円、トヨタは２０００年以降で最高の２７００円だった。

Meanwhile, leading steelmakers like Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. and JFE Steel Corp., offered base-wage hikes for the first time in 14 years, responding to their labor unions’ demand.
鉄鋼大手の新日鉄住金やＪＦＥスチールのベア回答も１４年ぶりである。

This year’s shunto has been marked by a number of factors not usually seen in negotiations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe helped steer negotiations by arranging unprecedented talks among the government, labor and management, during which his administration asked corporate executives to raise their workers’ wages.
　今春闘は、デフレ脱却を目指す安倍首相が主導して、初めての政労使協議が行われ、政府が経営側に賃上げを要請するという異例の展開になった。

This was part of a larger effort by the prime minister to pull the country out of protracted deflation.
Export-oriented companies in particular have seen sharp improvements in business performance. This has been made possible largely through a decline in the value of the yen, a product of the Abe administration’s economic policy line, known as Abenomics.
　安倍政権の経済政策「アベノミクス」による円安の追い風などで輸出企業の業績は軒並み、Ｖ字回復している。

The pay raises at these corporations suggest that they find it appropriate to reflect their improved performances in employee wages. Over many years, these firms sought to hold down wages, citing their dire business environment.
　各社は長年、厳しい経営環境を理由に賃金を抑制してきたが、好業績を賃上げに反映させることが適切と判断したのだろう。

Firms willing to help

These coordinated wage increases can be regarded as a clear indication of the corporations’ readiness to work with the government to achieve a virtuous economic cycle—an increase in corporate earnings that makes pay raises possible, in turn bolstering personal consumption and ultimately driving an economic expansion.
　企業収益拡大を賃上げにつなげて個人消費をテコ入れし、景気拡大を図る。各社が賃上げで足並みをそろえたのは、「経済の好循環」の実現に向け、政府と連携する姿勢を明確にしたとも言える。

There is concern that the hike in the consumption tax rate on April 1 could tip the economy into a downturn. We hope the latest wage increases will do much to strengthen the foundations of the economy after April’s consumption tax increase.
　４月１日には消費税率が引き上げられ、景気腰折れが懸念される。賃上げが消費増税後の景気を下支えする効果に期待したい。

However, in spite of increasingly clear signs of a return to prosperity, the nation still faces a mountain of challenges, and the hurdles toward ending deflation are still high. Against this backdrop it is vital that any economic boost derived from the pay hikes spread onward to small and mid-sized corporations, to the economies of communities beyond Japan’s major urban centers.
　ただ、景気回復傾向が、ようやく鮮明になってきたとはいえ、課題は山積している。デフレ脱却の道はなお険しい。賃上げの裾野を中小企業や地方にも拡大させる必要がある。

The government should support corporations by actualizing the “third arrow” of Abenomics, which entails corporate tax cuts and aggressive market deregulation. Shifting some of the workforce to growth fields is also a priority.
　政府は法人税減税や大胆な規制緩和の実施など、アベノミクスの「３本目の矢」である成長戦略をさらに具体化し、企業経営を後押しすべきだ。成長分野へ労働力を移動させることも大切である。

Another key question is whether all of Japan’s corporations will be able to successfully implement aggressive business strategies.
　日本経済再生に向け、企業各社の「攻めの経営」も問われる。

A major factor aggravating deflation was that private corporations tended to stockpile a sizable part of their profits, keeping the money in reserve despite improvements in profitability from increased labor productivity. This resulted in the failure to raise workers’ wages and proactively invest in plant and equipment.
　デフレが深刻化したのは、企業各社の労働生産性が向上し、収益が上がっても、内部留保をため込みがちで、賃上げや積極的な設備投資を行わなかったからだ。

It is also worrying to see that the prolonged economic slowdown has been accompanied by a decrease in the number of regular employees and a consequent increase in lower-wage nonregular workers.
　日本経済が低迷する中、正社員が減り、賃金の安い非正規労働者が増加していることも看過できない。

Corporate labor and management should join hands to address the problem. Among the changes needed are improvements to nonregular employee working conditions, increased promotion of nonregular workers to regular employee status and the creation of more jobs.
労使は非正規社員の待遇改善や、正社員への転換、さらなる雇用拡大などに連携して取り組むことが求められよう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, March 13, 2014)
（2014年3月13日01時22分  読売新聞）