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“The wage increases don’t go far enough,” says Daniel Lampart from the trade union federation. He announces a tougher approach – even striking is not taboo.
These days, employees receive their first payday of the new year – usually with a wage increase. According to the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, wages are rising on average by around 2.3 percent. However, the costs for food, rent and electricity have risen significantly, with inflation last year being just over 2 percent. The largest part of the wage increase is immediately eaten away by inflation.
In SRF’s “Samstagsrundschau” Daniel Lampart, the chief economist of the trade union federation, sharply criticized the other side, i.e. the employers: “Something happened in this wage round that has never happened before: employers increase prices, but give their people the money not the cost-of-living adjustment.” Lampart is referring in particular to the construction industry: In the so-called main construction industry, wage negotiations have failed: There are no general, binding wage increases.
“It has to hurt employers”
But the average wage increases of a good two percent do not go far enough for the trade union federation: it had demanded more than twice as much. The reason: Employers would now have to compensate for their employees’ wage losses from the previous three years. At that time, wages fell in real terms – taking inflation into account.
If you can get away with a state minimum wage, then that’s how we do it.
Trade unionist Lampart announces a tougher approach: “If we have such tough positions with employers, we have to negotiate differently – that is, more combatively.” It is obviously the case that employers have to be hurt. The question is how strong. For example, people discuss breaks in protests or other actions. Strikes are also not taboo: “If you systematically don’t give people what they are entitled to, then we are very unhappy. And this will be reflected in everything from breaks in protests to perhaps strikes.”
Legend: Daniel Lampart warns of the discontent of the employees. KEYSTONE / Anthony Anex
Incidentally, the employers’ association rejects the unions’ wage demands and in particular compensation for previous years as “excessive”. He points out that wages have increased in real terms over the last ten years – i.e. taking inflation into account.
State minimum wages as an alternative
The trade union federation demands that no one with an apprenticeship qualification earns less than 5,000 francs a month – in reality, wages are often 800 to 900 francs lower, especially in trade. If wage negotiations continue to be so difficult, the path may have to increasingly lead to state minimum wages in the future, says Daniel Lampart – even though the unions clearly prefer collective employment agreements.
“But we have noticed that employers in the retail sector, for example, have not even wanted to talk about collective employment agreements for many years. If you can get away with state minimum wages, then that’s how we do it.” Further regional projects are in the works, says unionist Lampart. Five cantons, including Basel-Stadt in German-speaking Switzerland, already have general minimum wages. A minimum wage has also been decided, but not yet introduced, in the city of Zurich.