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Industrial action in Switzerland: Construction workers take to the streets

Unions have warned that strikes could continue throughout the autumn.

Published: 16 October 2018 15:25 CEST

Industrial action in Switzerland: Construction workers take to the streets

Construction workers in the city of Geneva went on strike today. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Construction workers went on strike in Geneva today. A press release from the trade union UNIA suggested 2,500 workers took to the streets, although swissinfo.ch reported that the number was 1,800.

They were demonstrating against an alleged increase in temporary work contracts, the precarious job situation of older employees and perceived wage dumping because of sub-contracting.

A key issue is the pension age. The current national working contract for builders, which sets the retirement age at 60, expires at the end of 2018.

However, in May, the Swiss Builders’ Association announced that workers would have to either stay in employment until the age of 62 or accept a 30% drop in salary.

Unions are calling for employers to contribute more to pensions so that workers can continue to retire at 60.

Today’s strike followed a similar action in Ticino yesterday. In June, over 18,000 construction workers demonstrated in Zurich to protest against the new pension age proposal.

Strikes are relatively rare in Switzerland, which has no history of widespread industrial action. In 2017, the Hans Böckler Stiftung published research showing that Switzerland lost only two working days per 1,000 workers to strikes between 2005 and 2015.

Of 15 countries surveyed, it was the joint lowest alongside Austria, although they are not unheard of in Switzerland. Swiss News Agency staff went on strike in January this year, as did United Nations employees in Geneva in February. A planned strike of air traffic controllers at Geneva airport in July was cancelled.

READ ALSO: UN employees strike over pay cuts in ‘pricy Geneva’

The unions Unia, Synia and SIT, who organised the strikes, have described the new national working contract proposal as an “attack on health and dignity”. They have warned that strikes could continue and announced in a joint press release that “the autumn is set to be heated”.

Could Geneva be first Swiss canton to grant foreign residents more voting rights?

Foreigners are not allowed to vote on national level anywhere in Switzerland.

Though there had been attempts in the past to change this rule, the latest such move was turned down by legislators in 2022.

However, five cantons are permitting foreign residents to cast their votes in local referendums and elections: Geneva, Vaud, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, and Jura. Conditions vary from one canton to another, but in all cases a certain length of stay and a residence permit are required.

(In Zurich, a similar move was rejected in 2023).

Of the five cantons, only Neuchâtel and Jura authorise foreign residents to vote on cantonal level in addition to communal one; in the others, they can cast municipal ballots only.

Additionally, three other cantons have similar laws on their books, but they this legislation remains mostly inactive.

Basel-City, Graubünden, and Appenzell-Ausserrhoden have authorised their communes to introduce the right to vote, the right to elect, and the right to be elected for their non-Swiss residents.

However, only few of the communes in these cantons have actually introduced these measures.

Wait…Geneva’s foreigners already have the right to vote?

Yes, they have had this right since 2005, but only on municipal level.

However, this could change on June 9th, when Geneva residents will go to the polls to weigh in on an initiative launched by the trade unions and political left, calling for foreigners who have lived in the canton for at least eight years, to be able to vote and stand as candidates for political offices at the cantonal level.

This ‘upgrade’ to the cantonal voting rights is important, supporters argue, because it would enable foreigners to have more political impact.

“Municipal votes are quite rare, and the issues at stake are relatively limited,” the initiative committee said.

Therefore, “access to the cantonal vote will allow these same people to express their views on wider subjects that affect them on a daily basis.”

Is this measure likely to be accepted?

No reliable forecasts exist at this point.

And while foreigners constitute nearly 40 percent of Geneva’s population — the highest proportion in Switzerland — it will be up to Swiss citizens to decide on the outcome.

However, some members of the Geneva parliament are urging the ‘no’ vote on June 9th.

“No canton, no country, provides such generous rights to their foreigners,” the MPs from the centre parties pointed out in an interview with Tribune de Genève over the weekend.

(Neuchâtel and Jura allow voting, but not standing for election, at cantonal level).

“The only path for foreigners to obtain full political rights is through naturalisation,” the MPs added.

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