Trade unions and centre-left political parties opposed to a planned reform of the state-run unemployment insurance have enough support to force a nationwide vote.
They gathered more than 140,000 signatures in support of a referendum against the changes – nearly three times more than are needed – which they handed in to the federal chancellery on Tuesday.
“The number of signatures is a clear sign that the issue is very much on people’s minds,” said Renzo Ambrosetti of the Unia trade union.
Under the plan, approved by a majority in parliament in March, daily allowances would be reduced and eligibility to payments limited.
Regular contributions by employers and employees to the insurance scheme would also be slightly raised.
Opponents say the reform unfairly punishes young employees and those over the age of 55.
However, supporters of the reform argue stricter measures are necessary to contain the rising debts of the insurance scheme which totalled SFr5.6 billion ($ 5.3 billion) at the end of last year.
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Swiss may vote on jobless benefits reform
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The Social Democrats and trade unions behind the initiative must gather 50,000 signatures in support of the referendum by July 8. Proponents are against planned reforms to the law on state-run unemployment benefits and say undermining the country’s social security system would particularly affect young people. The initiative was launched last month after a reform…
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Daily allowances would be reduced and waiting periods for eligibility extended, according to the amended law. Those under 25 years of age would also be required to accept any job offer, while those over 55 qualify for the maximum number of daily allowances only if they have paid contributions for a minimum of 22 months…
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The number of people out of work rose by 8,790 in December to a total of 172,740 – an unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent not seen since 1998. However, this is less than half the Eurozone average of 9.8 per cent. The latest jobless figures, released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco)…
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Theo Frey (1908-1997) is ranked as one of the greats of Swiss photo reportage. His meticulous and unpretentious pictures document daily life during the 1930s to 1950s. An exhibtion of his full body of work was on show at the Swiss Foundation of Photography in 2008. (All photos: Swiss Foundation of Photography)
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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.