Photo/Illutration Non-regular workers participate in a strike, demanding higher wages, in front of an English language school in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on March 13. (Junichi Miyagawa)

A labor union representing non-regular employees said on March 13 that workers will stage walkouts at 15 companies toward the end of March demanding higher wages to meet rising prices. 

The executive committee of a non-regular workers' "shunto" said that around 500 workers are set to go on strike at the companies.

Kotaro Aoki, who co-chairs the General Support Union, which set up the executive committee, said at a news conference on March 13, “Anyone can start negotiations with their company on their own.”

“We want to increase the number of people who can fight together and spread the wave of wage increases,” he said.

On the same day, walkouts were carried out at several companies, including major conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro and English language school Gaba.

A Canadian worker protested in front of an English language school in Tokyo’s Yurakucho district, voicing difficulties in coping with rising prices, which have made it hard to make ends meet and afford temporary trips back home.

The participant said that a wage increase is absolutely necessary.

This is the second time that unions, in which non-regular workers can join individually, have united to make such demands, following last year. 

In 2023, after negotiations with 36 companies failed to secure wage increases, 50 workers from 10 companies went on strike.

Eventually, they won pay hikes at 16 companies.

Time-limited strikes, in which workers refuse to work for certain hours, were also effective, they said.

This year, most unions are demanding wage increases of 10 percent or more.

The number of participants has grown to around 30,000 people from 120 companies across a wide range of industries, such as retail, food and beverage, education, transportation, manufacturing and service, according to the executive committee.

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