Labour unions in Switzerland have called for a new euro exchange rate to help counter the effects of the strong Swiss franc.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
They have suggested an exchange rate target of SFr1.40 to the euro in order to better protect jobs and salaries.
“The speculative overvaluation of the franc is a problem for the Swiss economy,” said Unia trade union co-president Renzo Ambrosetti at a media conference in Bern on Tuesday. He noted that in the tourism and the metal industries alone, some 10,000 jobs were at risk.
Daniel Lampart, chief economist of the Trade Union Federation, warned that Swiss employers and builders should resist the urge to take advantage of the low wages common in many parts of Europe.
“If companies can hire ‘cheap foreigners’, then ‘expensive locals’ will lose their jobs,” Lampart said.
In September, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) set a minimum exchange rate target of SFr1.20 to the euro. This was after the franc nearly reached parity with the euro in August.
The unions insist that this is not adequate to keep the Swiss economy afloat. They have suggested tighter sanctions against wage dumping as well as the introduction of a minimum wage.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
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.
Read more
More
Plans to boost the economy get green light
This content was published on
Following the Senate, the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to accept the plan to inject SFr870 million ($975 million) into the economy in exactly the form presented by the government. Voting was 102 to 48 after about seven hours of debate spread over two days. The package faces one more hurdle on September 30,…
This content was published on
The move on Tuesday morning surprised foreign exchange markets and had the desired effect. The euro, which had been trading around SFr1.10 before the announcement, shot up to SFr1.20 afterwards. The intervention was welcomed unanimously by the main political parties and the business community. Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann, who a day earlier had called on…
This content was published on
The report on the control measures which were set up alongside the extension of free movement of people to new European Union members shows that more than a third of companies with collective work agreements were caught underpaying foreign staff. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), which compiled and presented the report, says the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
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.