We Demand Minimum Wage Councils Implement ¥1,500/Hour Across All Prefectures Now

The minimum wage supposedly reached ¥1,121 nationwide this year. But here’s the reality: as usual, fewer than half the prefectures—just 20—actually implemented the increase in October. Workers in Gunma won’t see the raise until March 1st. In Akita, it’s delayed until March 31st. Across the country, wages remain frozen.

Regional Minimum Wage Councils are meant to lift workers’ pay. They should be doing that job. Signature campaigns, written submissions—these matter, and we engage in them. But let’s be clear: these councils also function to suppress wages. That’s the contradiction we’re working within.

So here’s what we’re doing: We’re fighting to win ¥1,500/hour and ¥260,000/month in every workplace where General Union members work.

This is our starting point—the reality on the ground. Here’s our plan:
1. Survey every member. We’ll identify who’s earning below ¥1,500/hour or ¥260,000/month, and which workplaces they’re in.
2. Organise and demand. We’ll work with those members to develop wage demands, then launch coordinated bargaining campaigns across as many employers as possible—all pushing for ¥1,500/hour and ¥260,000/month or better.
3. Bargain collectively across branches. Members will support each other across workplace divisions, fighting together in collective bargaining to win real wage increases everywhere.
Through this campaign, we’ll strengthen solidarity among General Union members beyond individual company boundaries. And that solidarity will drive our continued growth as an organisation.