On February 15, RENGO endorsed its Outline of Policy of Approaches to the 1999 Fiscal Year Minimum Wage System at the 21st Central Executive Committee.

I. Minimum Wages by Industry

1. Approaches at the Spring Struggle

(1) RENGO will strive for minimum wage contractual agreement (intra-firm minimum wages) for 18 year-old workers and at the same time for the all company workers.
(2) Each local RENGO will strive to make demands, taking into consideration agreed minimum wage levels (¥923 per hour) for all 18 year-old regular employees in RENGO-registered unions in the 1999 fiscal year.
(3) During the negotiations to regulate minimum wages by industry for the 1999 Spring Struggle, industrial organizations and local industrial organizations affected by it will seek employer understanding regarding the relation between agreed and legal minimum wages. Those organizations will also make efforts to foster agreement with other organizations in related industries and the firms.

2. Post Spring Struggle Approaches

(1) RENGO and unions will set a preliminary goal for the end of July regarding submitting applications for the revision of minimum wages by industry for the 1999 fiscal year and the creation of new minimum wages. However, we will work hard to present in June, one-month ahead of schedule, from as many organizations as practical, and aim for an "autonomous independent decision and operation" based on the summary of the 10th anniversary of introducing new minimum wages by industry.
(2) RENGO and unions will strive to increase wages based on the purpose and meaning of the new minimum wage by industry, revising where possible "the relevance to the minimum wages by region" and "complying with the minimum wage level of the worker concerned."
(3) RENGO will move the implementation date up from "the end of this year" and strive to set the date somewhere around October or November.

3. Minimum Wage by Industry: Reconsideration and Approaches

(1) Each industrial organization will independently strive to conclude the "intra-firm minimum wage agreement" with all organizations connected to the minimum wage by industry.
(2) Organizations will respond based on "Q&A for the minimum wage by industry" regarding the "attached materials explaining the existence of wage differentials" for "fair competition cases."

4. Study Session Approaches

To strengthen the reorganization of struggle for minimum wages by industry, RENGO will hold nationwide study sessions, separate from its Bloc meeting in May, for members from the central organization of industrial federations, local industrial federations, and local working groups for deliberating the minimum wage.

II. Minimum Wages by Region

1. Approach at 1999 Spring Struggle

(1) RENGO will create a demand for "hourly wages" again this fiscal year, and consider the Central Minimum Wage Council's standardization system as a social declaration of each local RENGO. The results of the struggle to shorten working hours should be reflected in the minimum wage, raising the minimum wage levels to those comparable to the average for regular workers.
(2) Reference value for making demands
Taking correction of differentials in wages compared to union workers into consideration, the reference value for this fiscal year for the minimum wage by region was calculated at 4% (raised to the nearest decimal) plus last year's achievement in each class of workers.

2. Post Spring Struggle Approaches

(1) Operation to set a standard at the Central Minimum Wage Council
If operated at the usual pace, the schedule would be as follows.
*Consultation in mid-May, *begin operation in late June, *finish arguments in the mid-July, *submit the report at the end of July.
At the peak of the operation, the final decision will be made by workers representatives and representatives from each class, just as it was last year.
(2) When the standard (the view of the Central Minimum Wage Council) was presented, the scene shifted to local minimum wage councils in each of the 47 prefectures. Each local RENGO will develop a concrete struggle to revise wages.