This follows a similar protest by about 3,000 of their profession in canton Ticino on Monday.
The strike in Geneva was called by the Unia, Synia and SIT unions for one day that may be extended. Police organised traffic deviations for the march, causing some traffic jams in the city.
Placards carried by the marchers included “Stop wage dumping”, “We are fighting for a good collective agreement”, and “Yes, but not at any price”.
The strike, a relatively rare phenomenon in Switzerland, comes as negotiations have been ongoing for a new union agreement in the construction sector. The current agreement expires at the end of the year. The striking workers denounced an alleged upsurge in temporary working on building sites, precarious job situation of older workers and massive sub-contracting often leading to the use of cheap foreign labour.
There are some 1,400 construction businesses in the Geneva area, employing some 12,000 people.
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Builders down tools in biggest strike for 50 years
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Around 15,500 workers protested in favour of lowering the retirement age to 60. The employers described the strike as illegal. “This has exceeded our expectations,” said Vasco Pedrina, president of the construction workers’ union, who earlier told swissinfo that the strike was the biggest strike by construction workers since 1947. Participation in the one-day stoppage…
Over 18,000 construction workers demonstrate in Zurich
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Unions on Friday threatened warning strikes this autumn if the current retirement age of 60 for construction workers is dropped.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.