UA Zensen, which consists of unions in textile, retail and some other industries, on Thursday announced a plan to demand a 6% wage increase for regular employees in next year's "shunto" spring labor-management negotiations.

Meanwhile, UA Zensen plans to seek a 7% wage increase for part-time workers, who make up about 60% of the roughly 1.9 million workers in its member unions.

The plans are slated to be formally adopted at a central committee meeting in January.

The demand for a 6% wage increase for regular workers, including a 4% pay scale increase, is the same level as the 2024 shunto and higher than the 5% target set by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, or Rengo, the national umbrella body of labor unions.

The 7% demand for part-time workers, including an 80-yen hourly wage hike, is higher than the previous year's 6% demand, including a 70-yen hike.

"We want to step up efforts to raise small companies' wage levels to narrow their gaps" with large companies, UA Zensen chief Tomoko Nagashima told a news conference in Tokyo the same day.