The National Council has voted in favour of collective agreements taking precedence over cantonal minimum wages that were brought in by popular vote. That means that the minimum wages in the cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel could eventually be scrapped if the move is backed by the Council of States. The country has never introduced a national minimum wage. Geneva has the country's highest minimum wage at € 25 an hour and the canton of Neuchâtel has a minimum hourly wage of € 21. Both were brought in after popular votes in the cantons. The trade unions were left angry at the vote, claiming it will make cantonal referendums worthless. "For the first time in history, wage reductions are planned through a federal law," said the Swiss Trade Union Federation.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.