TOKYO, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The labour confederation representing Japanese autoworkers on Friday said it will seek monthly base pay increases of 12,000 yen ($77) or more for next year, matching this year's demand, in an effort to deliver another solid rise to counter inflation.
The wage outlook for the automotive industry, which has been severely hit by higher U.S. tariffs, is closely watched as the Bank of Japan gauges pay trends when making monetary policy decisions.
The group, the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions (JAW), has 12 unions under its umbrella, representing a total of 784,000 workers, including employees of Toyota Motor and Honda Motor, as well as people who work for parts makers.
The target represents an increase of about 5% in base pay, which excludes seniority-based annual hikes that are already built into the pay scale, at member firms with workforces of fewer than 300 employees.
According to JAW's final tally for the 2025 negotiations, the average increase in base pay was 9,520 yen. Combined with regular pay raises, the total wage increase reached 12,886 yen, the highest since 1976.
Japan's automobile industry, which employs more than 5 million people, typically sets the tone for the country's wage negotiations that swing into full gear in the first few months of the year.
Japan's largest labour union group, Rengo, of which JAW is a member, is seeking an overall increase in wages of at least 5% in 2026, including a rise in the base pay of at least 3%.
According to Rengo, its member unions secured an average pay rise of 5.25% this year, the biggest in 34 years.
($1 = 155.7200 yen)
(Reporting by Kentaro Sugiyama and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
