Local Swiss media reports that the government has dismissed a proposal by trade unions to introduce minimum wage rates across the country.
Local Swiss media reports that the government has dismissed a proposal by trade unions to introduce minimum wage rates across the country.
Switzerland’s Economic Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann said the proposed minimum wage of SFr22 ($23.8 or Bt720) per hour, the highest minimum wage in any member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), would harm Switzerland’s competitive edge and its labour relations system.
He said salaries had to adapt to productivity levels and market mechanisms without interference by the state, asserting that the salary gap between top earners and low income employees in Switzerland than in many other counties.
With Switzerland’s comparatively low unemployment figures – currently 3.3 per cent, Schneider-Ammann said the system which leaves salary levels up to individual sectors or companies is the trump card of the Swiss economy.
He also warned of possible job losses in sectors such as tourism and hospitality, particularly those bordering other countries, if the present system was made inflexible.
At present, Switzerland does not have a minimum wage system. However, workers in the country receive higher salary than workers in other Eurozone countries.
With Switzerland being among top countries in the world in term of cost of living, local trade unions collected enough signatures and handed them to the government last year to call a nationwide vote.
Pual Rechsteiner, president of the Trade Union Federation disagreed with the government, arguing that salaries have come under increasing pressure over the past few years while the cost of living in Switzerland has gone up. About 400,000 employees earn less than SFr4,000 ($4,300) a month.
He criticised the widening gap between salaries at the top and at the bottom, noting that minimum wages are the best way to put an end to this injustice.
Labour Affairs Division in Geneva
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