'Shunto' outlives its usefulness

役割を終えた春闘

On Wednesday major automotive, electronics and steel companies made "zero" wage offers to their unions, rejecting demands for "base-up" increases, the negotiated portion that excludes automatic raises linked to age. This means that the shunto has lost its main feature: orchestrated wage demands leading to across-the-board increases.

The collapse of the shunto is also evident in the mode of negotiation. In the past, employers made their final offers at least a day before the formal deadline, and almost always unions accepted the offers. This time around, final replies were not given until the last moment — a sure sign that labor and management had great difficulty ironing out their differences. This happened even in well-off carmakers such as Toyota and Nissan.

Toyota, whose consolidated pretax profit for fiscal 2001 is estimated to exceed ¥1 trillion, offered a ¥6,500 increase but no base-up raise, citing the need to "revive international competitiveness." However, the company accepted a union demand for bonuses, indicating a willingness to reflect business performance in biannual bonuses rather than in negotiated wage increases.

The message is that Toyota, a leader in the shunto, is parting with the wage-centered shunto. President Fujio Cho said: "As a leader in manufacturing we want to make this year a turning point for the shunto." Indeed, Toyota's exit is likely to have a profound impact on future labor-management negotiations not only in the auto industry but in other sectors as well.

Nissan, meanwhile, offered a ¥7,000 increase, including a ¥1,000 "base-up" raise, and bonuses equivalent to 5.5 months of base salary, meeting union demands to the full. The decision was reportedly made at the 11th hour by President Carlos Ghosn, who was quoted as saying that he wanted to "reward employees for what they have achieved and boost their morale."

Nissan's wage settlement also marks a significant departure from the shunto's norm. It is proof that the era of across-the-board wage increases is definitely over. "We're entering a new era," said a Nissan executive, "when wages are raised not in a lock-step fashion but according to decisions by individual companies."

In fact, most unions have chosen not to demand "base-up" increases. This alone makes it clear that the traditional shunto has lost its raison d'etre. As an alternative to the "base-up," member unions of Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, have focused on regular pay hikes, opposing any downward revision in the pay scale. Unions in the depressed electronics industry, for instance, have taken this approach, apparently with a measure of success. However, this attempt is irrelevant for small-business employees who do not receive such increases in the first place.

Already some major electronics companies have announced their intention of freezing automatic increases and even revising the pay system after the current shunto is over. Indeed, the system of built-in automatic raises — which for decades has formed the foundation of lifetime employment and seniority-based pay — is out of tune with reality. Labor will need to negotiate with management with this reality in mind.

With unemployment rising, labor has also focused on jobs. But its attempts to conclude "employment stabilization agreements" with management appear to have made little substantial progress. In the steel industry, employers and unions have agreed to exchange memorandums pledging to secure job security. However, such agreements will provide no ironclad guarantee against layoffs.

There is no question that the conventional shunto formula has outlived its utility. Yet labor appears to be falling behind management in efforts to adapt to the changing times. The impression is that unions generally are going through the motions, apparently unable to get rid of their old mind-set. According to a frustrated unionist, the shunto has been reduced to a "show played by company unions."

The shunto lost its luster long ago. Its value has steadily declined particularly over the past decade of economic stagnation. The number of organized workers has also continued to fall, now representing just 21 percent of the labor force. It is time to devise a new shunto formula that also embraces unorganized workers, including part-time and temporary workers.

The Japan Times: March 15, 2002
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     交渉方法を見ても春闘の崩壊は明らかだ。以前、経営側は期限の一日前には最終回答し、組合側は常にそれを受け入れていたが、今回はぎりぎりまで回答が出なかった。労使間の妥協点を見出す困難さの表れで、この現象は好業績の自動車メーカーでも見られた。

     トヨタは国際競争力の回復が必要だとしてベアゼロ回答し、定昇相当分の6500円で妥結したが、業績はボーナスに反映という組合側の要求をのんだ。春闘をリードしてきたトヨタが賃金中心の春闘に決別した。これは他業種の労使交渉にも大きな影響を及ぼすだろう。

     一方日産はベア1000円を含む7000円の賃上げ、基本給の5.5ヶ月分のボーナスという満額回答となった。ゴーン社長の土壇場の決断によるもので、氏は業績回復に報いて社員の士気を高めることが必要だと語ったという。日産の決着もまた、従来型の春闘とは一線を画していたが、これは横並びの賃上げの時代が終わったことを示している。足並み揃えての賃上げでなく、個々の企業の判断による賃上げの時代に突入したのだ。

     実際、大半の労組がベア要求を断念した。この事実だけでも従来型の春闘が存在理由を失ったことがわかる。連合はベアの代替案として、定期昇給重視の立場をとった。業績不振の電機労組はこの方向で交渉に臨み、まずまずの成功をおさめた。しかし、最初から賃上げのない中小企業の社員には関係のないことだ。

     電機大手はすでに定期昇給をやめ、春闘後に給与体系改訂を行う意向を示している。数十年にわたり終身雇用制と年功序列に基づく賃金体系の基盤を築いてきた定期昇給と現実との間には、今や乖離がみられる。

     労使間で結ぶ雇用安定を確約する協定は、ほとんど前進していないようだ。鉄鋼労使は雇用確保を約束した覚書を取り交わすことに合意したが、覚書はレイオフに対する確たる保証にはならない。

     春闘はもはや力を失った。その価値は過去10年間の不況下で低下の一途をたどった。組合員数も減少し続け、今や労働人口の21%を占めるにすぎない。パートタイマーや臨時社員のような非組合員をも包含する、春闘の新たな方式を考案すべき時期にきている。

The Japan Times Weekly
March 23, 2002
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