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Thousands of construction workers protest in Zurich and Lausanne

Thousands of construction workers demonstrate in Zurich
The event on Saturday featured a large number of Unia trade union flags. Keystone-SDA

Workers on Saturday demanded wage increases and more family-friendly working hours.

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The motto of the demonstration was “Respect for our work”. The background to this is a national agreement on working conditions in the construction sector which expires at the end of 2025.

When it comes to renewing it, the trade unions Unia and Syna say they expect “no easy negotiations”.

On Saturday, a digger drove at the head of a crowd which featured a conspicuously large number of Unia flags, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

The demo made its way through the city center from Limmatquai to Helvetiaplatz. Several tramlines were affected.

A similar protest was also due to take place in Lausanne later in the afternoon.

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

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Employment contracts

Most employees work a maximum of 45 hours a week, and everyone is entitled to four weeks’ paid holiday a year. Many contracts offer better terms.

Read more: Employment contracts

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