Revised guidelines have put members of the nation’s largest business group on a collision course with their labor unions during talks next spring over job security and pay hikes.
Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), in its guidelines for the 2009 shunto spring labor-management negotiations released Tuesday, simply said employment is an “extremely important issue” and that companies will “make efforts” to maintain jobs.
The expression marks a retreat from an earlier draft that said “the top priority” should be placed on job security.
The guidelines also ruled out an across-the-industry hike in the pay scale. Nippon Keidanren approved pay increases during shunto negotiations last spring.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200812180053.html