Independent trade unions have called for a salary increase of up to three per cent next year to offset a loss in actual earning.
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Travail Suisse, an umbrella organisation with about 170,000 members in various sectors of industry, said it was unfair to let only managers benefit from the economic growth.
The group said employees deserved higher wages as working conditions had become tougher and productivity had been increasing.
An expected increase in salary deductions for social security insurances and in value added tax would slow consumer spending, Travail Suisse warned.
The organisation is aiming for compensation for 1.1 per cent inflation and salary increases ranging from 0.5 per cent for railway workers to up to three per cent in the construction industry.
The main Trade Union Federation is to present its demands later in the year.
In response to the union’s press conference on Monday a senior member of the employers’ organisation was quoted as saying there was no need to increase salaries as wages rose 2.6 per cent in 2009.
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Manager-employee salary gap still growing
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In a study published on Monday, the organisation said the difference in salaries had widened by 18 per cent in 2009, and by 70 per cent since 2002. “The constant rise in managers’ pay puts at risk the Swiss model of economic success, which is based on trust, decency and a functioning social partnership,” says…
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Hewitt Associates said that among European countries, Switzerland came at the bottom of the salary increase scale. In German-speaking countries, Austria led the pack with an anticipated increase of 2.7 per cent next year, with Germany following at 2.5 per cent. With expected inflation taken into account, real salaries in Switzerland will increase by 1.5…
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And this figure rises to half among lower middle-class families. Yet the vast majority of people questioned are upbeat about the future despite the economic crisis, the Beobachter magazine reported on Thursday. According to the survey conducted by the gfs.bern institute, 85 per cent of families believe the economic situation will tick along at the…
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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.