As the ruling class offensive continues to attack workers throughout the world, Japan’s wages fell at the fastest rate on record in June as companies cut bonuses in order to maximize their profits.
Monthly wages, including overtime and bonuses, fell 7.1 percent from a year earlier to $4,500. Bonuses fell 14.5 percent. According to government figures, Japan’s official unemployment rate rose to a six-year high of 5.4 percent in June.
Usually paid in June or July, summer bonuses account for about 10 percent of a full-time worker’s yearly income. Sony, one of the largest employers in Japan, recently announced that it will lay off 16,000 workers worldwide.
Workers did not cause this economic crisis. Rather, it is the product of the incessant drive for profit that is inherent in the capitalist system. Multi-billion-dollar corporations are forcing workers to shoulder the burden of the economic crisis by working harder and longer hours for less pay and no job security.
