In this year's spring labor movement, where there has been a series of responses to high wage increases, the Rengo and small and medium-sized business owners' organizations held a conference to spread the trend of wage increases to small and medium-sized enterprises, and they decided to pass on increases in personnel costs and other costs to prices. We confirmed that we will work together to achieve this goal.
In response to this year's spring labor wage, a number of companies, especially major companies, responded by offering full pay, and according to Rengo's data compiled last week, the average wage increase rate has reached a high level of over 5% for the first time in 33 years since 1991.
Many small and medium-sized enterprises are planning to begin negotiations in earnest, and on the 22nd, the Federation and the National Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Associations, which is made up of small and medium-sized business owners, exchanged opinions.
In this regard, Rengo Chairman Yoshino said, ``Whether we can raise wages in Japan as a whole depends on whether small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 70% of employed workers, can raise wages sufficiently. It is important to be able to appropriately pass on these costs to prices."
In response, Mori, chairman of the National Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises Associations, said, ``It is important for government, labor, and management to work together to promote price pass-through efforts, and to create understanding and momentum among the entire nation regarding price increases.'' .
Afterwards, a representative of a small and medium-sized business explained how it is difficult to secure funds for wage increases due to lack of understanding among business partners regarding the transfer of labor costs to prices.He will continue to appeal to business partners about the importance of price transfer and collaborate with them. We confirmed that we will work on environmental improvement.