Swiss trade unions disappointed by 2026 wage negotiations

Trade unions are disappointed by the latest wage negotiations. Keystone-SDA

Swiss trade unions say wage negotiations for 2026 have led to a "disappointing" result for employees and low wage increases will barely compensate for the higher cost of living.

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The overall weak progression in Swiss wage levels over the past ten years will continue in 2026, the trade union umbrella organisation, Travailsuisse, said on Monday.

Together with the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, it had called for a nominal wage increase of 2% in the summer. With inflation expected to reach 0.5%, this would have resulted in real wage growth of 1.5%.

According to its own calculations, Travailsuisse only achieved a salary increase of more than 1% in 9% of all negotiations.

In around 35% of cases, the negotiated raises were between 0.6-1%. In 57% of cases, they were around 0.2-0.5%.

The higher cost of living – primarily due to rising health insurance premiums – often cancelled out these increases immediately.

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Adapted from French by AI/sb

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