is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

term, usually translated as "spring wage offensive." It refers to the annual wage negotiations between enterprise unions and the employers in Japan. Beginning in February or March each spring, thousands of unions conduct wage negotiations with employers simultaneously. ''Shuntō'' was first carried out in 1954, at the suggestion of Kaoru Ōta, the newly-installed vice chairman of the

General Council of Trade Unions of Japan A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

(Sōhyō). ''Shuntō'' was a response to the structural weakness of the Japanese labor movement; rather than organizing by industry, Japanese labor unions were "enterprise unions" organized on a company-by-company basis. This made any particular union reluctant to strike for higher wages and better working conditions, for fear that rival companies would simply snap up market share during the stoppage. Ōta's innovation was to schedule a specific date in the spring when all Sōhyō unions everywhere would agree to go on strike all at once. Since the ''shuntō'' was scheduled in advance, labor and management had ample time to work out a deal. By ameliorating labor strife and avoiding economic uncertainty, this system suited both workers and employers, and rapidly spread throughout Japan, becoming an enduring feature of Japanese industrial relations. By the 1960s, ''shuntō'' was regularly securing workers large annual wage increases, in line with or even exceeding Japan's high-speed economic growth. The Trade Union Confederation (Sōhyō, later succeeded by

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) customarily set a specific target percentage increase, the "base-up," for the annual wage increases to aid with collective bargaining. Negotiations for enterprise unions tended to begin after the bigger unions had secured their own deals and so they could push for their own company to match the improvements, which led to economy-wide wage increases. In recent years, Japan has suffered from a number of

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

s and

deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% (a negative inflation rate). Inflation reduces the value of currency over time, but sudden deflatio ...

, and union membership has been falling, causing the value of the ''shuntō'' and the automatic wage increases associated with it to come under threat. Major unions in the steel, electronics, and automotive industries have been forced to reduce their demands and, in some years, even accept no increase in wages from employers. Simply protecting existing pay structures and jobs has often become the primary concern. In this context, criticism has arisen that ''shuntō'' has become little more than a ritual or ceremonial performance of labor militancy, lacking in efficacy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shunto Economy of Japan Postwar Japan Trade unions in Japan Japanese words and phrases Labour movement in Japan