Essential Workers Call For Japan Minimum Wage Hike
A Japanese labor union representing low-paid essential workers across a range of sectors has called for wages to be increased.
The move comes ahead of the start of negotiations on raising minimum wages for this fiscal year.
A non-regular childcare worker in her 20s spoke at an online news conference on Thursday. She said, "We are fulfilling an important role for society by protecting children. But our pay level does not reflect this heavy responsibility."
Japan's average hourly minimum wage currently stands at 902 yen, or about 8 dollars and 30 cents. It only increased by 1 yen last fiscal year in the absence of guidelines from a labor ministry panel due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, organizations representing small and medium-sized businesses held a news conference to urge that the current minimum wage levels be maintained. They say they will be forced to face further hardship amid the pandemic if they have to pay their workers more.