Minimum wage narrowly rejected in canton Basel Country

Supporters had called for a minimum wage of CHF22 per hour for all employees in the canton. Keystone / Martial Trezzini

Voters in the Swiss canton of Basel Country have narrowly rejected the introduction of a statutory minimum wage. The Unia trade union initiative had called for a minimum wage of CHF22 ($24.20) per hour for all employees working in the canton.

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The voters of Basel Country rejected the proposal by 35,426 votes to 33,434, with a no-vote percentage of 51.4%, according to the cantonal chancellery. Voter turnout was 36.7%.

The minimum wage initiative was supported by the left-wing Social Democratic Party and the Greens, while the other parties and the government recommended that it be rejected.

Voters in the neighbouring canton of Solothurn also rejected the introduction of a minimum wage of CHF23 per hour on Sunday, with 58% voting against. Basel City therefore remains the only German-speaking canton with a statutory minimum wage. In the rest of the country, cantons Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino and Jura have introduced a minimum wage.

+ Solothurn voters reject minimum wage of CHF23 per hour

The Basel initiative had demanded that the social partners adapt the collective labour agreements to the minimum wage provisions within a certain period of time. The proposal would therefore have gone further than the one in Basel City, which was approved by voters in 2021.

If the bill had been adopted in canton Basel Country, the minimum wage of CHF22 per hour would have applied to all employees, whereas in Basel City, employees with a generally binding collective labour agreement are exempt from this obligation. Exceptions would have been made in the Basel region for internships, apprenticeships, holiday jobs, family businesses and agriculture, among others.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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