The labor unions of the manufacturing firms in the Toyota Motor group submitted demands to management Wednesday seeking lower monthly pay hikes than they sought during spring wage negotiations last year.

While the auto giant Toyota Motor Corp. is doing well, none of the 106 labor unions of the manufacturing firms belonging to the Federation of All Toyota Workers Unions asked for a bigger pay hike than last year, in light of the economic slump.

"This is the lowest pay hike we have ever asked for, but it is a decision we came to after thinking hard about the situation that Japan is currently in," a federation official said.

He said the labor unions took into consideration the deflationary trend in Japan, as well as fears of job stability amid moves by many manufacturers to shift their factories overseas.

Some labor unions asked for the same pay raise as last year, such as that linked to Denso Corp., which sought a 7,000 yen raise. Union members at Toyota Motor Corp. sought a monthly raise of 7,500 yen, down from the 9,000 yen increase it sought last year.

Almost all the other labor union members asked for raises of around 5,000 yen or 6,000 yen.

Twenty 20 percent of the labor unions asked for a bigger bonus than last year, while 50 percent asked for the same amount and 30 percent requested a smaller amount.