Switzerland -No majority for minimum wage in referendum -May 18, 2014

The proposal to introduce a minimum wage was rejected by 76% of voters in a referendum. Under the plan, employers would have had to pay workers a minimum 22 Swiss francs (about 18 euros) an hour. The trade unions that initiated the referendum have always said that the proposed introduction of a minimum wage at that level was necessary for people to live a decent life. They argued that surviving on less than 4,000 francs a month is not possible because rents, health insurance and food are all prohibitively expensive.

English: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27459178

http://www.thelocal.ch/20140515/pay-under-less-tha4000-a-month-challeng

 

For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.