Equal rights and equal pay demanded for women
A perceived lack of equal rights for women and men in Switzerland have been at the centre of a day of action.
OrganisersExternal link of the event on Tuesday said the political fight for equal pay and respect for women had made hardly any progress over the past three years.
The Unia trade unionExternal link also criticised a planned increase of the retirement age for women as part of a reform of the country’s old age pension system. The issue will come to a nationwide vote in September.
Campaigners also pointed out the more than 20,000 reported cases of domestic violence.
Street protests in cities and towns across Switzerland were organised to mark the anniversary of the 1981 vote on a constitutional article about equal rights for women and men.
A first nationwide strike was held on June 14, 1991, initiated by a group of female workers at a watchmaking factory in western Switzerland protesting about low salaries.
A second similar protest in 2019 was attended by an estimated 500,000 people, according to the Trade Union Federation.
Last year’s third event of its kind took place amid restrictions imposed because of the Covid pandemic. More than 100,000 people took place in the symbolic strike action.
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