May 30, 2025

The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) on May 29 issued a statement under the name of Zenroren Secretary General Kurosawa Koichi in protest against the exclusion of Zenroren from the Labor Ministry’s Central Council on Minimum Wages, the tripartite panel made up of representatives evenly elected from labor, management, and labor experts.

Zenroren, in its statement, referred to the Labor Ministry’s Notification 545 which states that it is necessary to reflect an overall balance among national trade union centers in appointing a worker representative to the ministry’s tripartite panel engaged in labor administration.

In addition, Zenroren pointed out that the ILO in its recommendation to the Japanese government states that preferential treatment of a specific labor union in regard to the representation and participation in various tripartite bodies constitutes a violation of the principle of freedom of association which is enshrined in the ILO Convention No.87 which calls for fair treatment of all trade unions.

At the moment, only members affiliated with the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC or Rengo) are selected to the minimum wage council. Zenroren criticized the ministry for discriminatory treatment of trade unions other than Rengo.

Zenroren stressed that it deals extensively involving the situation of workers who earn just above the current minimum hourly wages, and demanded that it be included as a minimum wage panel member.