2023-08-17 19:31:04
Travail.Suisse is asking for wage increases ranging from 3.5 to 4.5% depending on the branch, for all workers. The union umbrella justifies its claims by referring to the decline in purchasing power.
“For the third time in a row, real wages are falling in Switzerland,” the organization said in a statement on Thursday. According to her, the companies have sufficient leeway for increases. Their profits, which she considers “excessive”, even exceed the figures before the pandemic, she argues.
Significant wage increases are particularly in demand for the craft professions, the machinery, electrical equipment and metallurgy industry and the health sector, adds Johann Tscherrig, head of interest and contractual policy at the Syna union.
National Councilor Greta Gysin (Greens / TI), president of the transfair staff union, affirms for her part that public service staff need compensation for the increase in prices. He might thus maintain his purchasing power.
>> The 12:30 p.m. explanations: The unions want a 4.5% wage increase to cope with the general increase in the cost of living / Le 12:30 p.m. / 2 min. / today at 12:33
Increased productivity
Labour.Switzerland’s head of economic policy, Thomas Bauer, justified higher wages by increasing worker productivity.
Over the past ten years, the Swiss have created 10% more real added value, without real wages being aligned with this increase, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) cited by Mr. Bauer.
And the person in charge to affirm that the profits of these last years were absorbed not by the employees, but by the employers, in particular “under pretext of high costs”, according to the written version of his intervention.
Health premiums and rents
In addition to the decline in real wages, Thomas Bauer mentions the additional pressure posed by health insurance premiums. These have experienced a 23% increase in basic insurance over the last eight years.
The increase in rents is also questioned, in particular for young workers moving into new accommodation. These have increased by 3.3% over the past 12 months. In total, according to the calculations of Travail.Suisse, the additional cost of living for this year and next year should be around 3%.
On Tuesday, the Swiss Employers’ Union had deemed unrealistic and “exaggerated” the 5% increases demanded by the unions. In a document published on wages, she also mentioned a darkening economic situation in Switzerland and real wages having increased on average by 0.3% between 2012 and 2022.
>> Read also: The Employers’ Union does not want the wage increases demanded by the unions
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