The eighth round of negotiations for the renewal of the National Convention of the main construction sector did not lead to a solution, the entrepreneurs announced on Tuesday. The social partners will meet again next Monday.
The Swiss Society of Entrepreneurs (SSE) had proposed to the unions a general salary increase of 150 francs per month from 2023, an increase of 3.3% for lower incomes. She also proposed to increase the minimum wage by 60 francs, she said in a statement.
This offer also included ‘modifications allowing a first modernization of working time’, the model desired by the entrepreneurs having been abandoned. This proposal was however rejected on Tuesday by the unions, indicates the SSE.
Increase of 190 francs required
Workers’ representatives are demanding a salary increase of 190 francs, Unia and Syna told Keystone-ATS. They rejected the proposed increase in minimum wages of 60 francs, which would not compensate “not even half of inflation”, according to them.
The unions also accuse the SSE of seeking to extend the working week to 50 hours, without paying overtime. She also refuses, according to them, a paid break and the payment of possible overtime at the end of the construction year.
Unia and Syna, on the other hand, are delighted that entrepreneurs have given up demanding longer working days in summer.
The unions, however, have indicated that they want to obtain a result by the next round of negotiations on Monday. The SSE, for its part, was optimistic that an agreement could be reached on this occasion.
Since October 17, 15,000 masons have taken to the streets of Switzerland. They demand better planning of working hours and refuse to see their working days extended in the summer.
/ATS