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Protect wages, not borders, was the main campaign of unions that protested in Geneva, Switzerland, recently, and they hit a double target.
The campaign encouraged the 500,000 population of the Geneva area to vote against growing poverty in one of the world’s most expensive cities by introducing a minimum living wage of CHF23 (US $25) per hour.
At national level, Swiss unions and their political allies convinced voters to resist right wing attempts to divide workers over borders.
In a vote on September 27, over 58 per cent of Geneva’s voters said ‘YES’ to the initiative “23 frs, c’est un minimum” (23 francs is a minimum). At the same time, 69 per cent at national level said ‘NO’ to the right-wing initiative to limit the entry of workers from European Union member states, an attempt to blame foreign workforce for worsening conditions.
Through the system of direct democracy, the Swiss population can call for a referendum to change or introduce a law. Swiss unions and left-wing parties used this mechanism to launch an initiative on the minimum living wage in the canton of Geneva.
The association of Geneva unions, Communauté genevoise d’action syndicale, which includes IndustriALL affiliates UNIA and SYNA, said in their statement that, with their vote, “Geneva has just given a very clear signal to employers and to all those who try to pit workers against each other: against precarity and abuse by employers, it is wages that must be protected and not borders.”
According to Travailler en Suisse, which provides statistics on working conditions in Switzerland, the Swiss monthly gross salary across all sectors in 2016 was on average CHF6,502 (US $7,083). In the most qualified positions, the average gross monthly salary varied from CHF4,825 (US $5,256) in catering, to CHF12,302 (US $13,400) in the banking and finance sector.
Most workers already received at least CHF4,313 (US $4,698) per month, often through existing union collective agreements. However, in the absence of union agreements, the lowest paid 10 per cent of employees fell through the cracks and were not paid this minimum for a full working day, and the COVID-19 pandemic exposed their precarious situation.
