Japan’s union confederations are calling for workers to get their biggest pay rise in 25 years, Reuters reports.

As part of spring wage negotiations, known in Japan as “shunto,” a survey of about 2,000 unions across the country shows they are asking for an average wage increase of 4.49 percent this year. This is the first time since 1998 that Japanese unions have demanded a wage increase of more than 4%.

Workers in the world’s third-largest economy have been encouraged by calls from various politicians to raise wages to support a fragile economic recovery from the pandemic, which is threatened by the fact that inflation has reached its highest level in four decades, writes Reuters, reports Agerpres.

The Japan Confederation of Trade Unions, colloquially known as Rengo, is Japan’s largest trade union confederation, representing approximately seven million workers. Even though those working in smaller firms, those on temporary contracts and those who are not union members benefit from lower wage increases, the figure derived from annual negotiations between the JTUC and the Japan Business Federation is considered a guideline for wage trends across Japan.

According to the JTUC, unions and companies agreed to an average wage increase of 2.07% last year, higher than in previous years but below what Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had requested as a significant increase to spur economic growth.