Zurich to pay minimum wage of almost CHF24 per hour

Not the most lucrative career: the cleaning industry. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Voters in Switzerland’s biggest city have approved a CHF23.90 ($26.74) minimum wage that left-wing groups say will help the working poor. The neighbouring city of Winterthur also accepted a minimum wage project on Sunday.

Some 69.4% of voters in Zurich accepted the proposal, which could benefit around 17,000 workers who currently earn less than CHF23 per hour – most of them women in low-wage sectors like cleaning, restaurants, and retail.

The campaigns were driven by left-wing and centrist parties, and charity organisations who argued that the minimum wage was a necessary tool in the fight against poverty.

Opponents argued that the measure would only help a very limited number of “working poor” – most of whom they claim already earn more than this minimum wage, yet can’t make ends meet for other reasons. They also complained that the new wage will lead to increased bureaucracy.

The wage will not apply to apprentices, interns, or under-25-year-olds without working qualifications beyond compulsory schooling.

Also on Sunday, voters in the canton Zurich municipality of Winterthur accepted a minimum wage of CHF23. There, around 3,600 people, or 5% of all employees, are set to benefit.

Cantonal affair

Switzerland does not have a nationwide minimum wage. But five of the country’s 26 cantons have introduced one following popular votes: Neuchâtel, Jura, Ticino, Geneva, and Basel City. Rates vary from around CHF20-23 per hour.

At the national level, the issue was put to voters in an initiative launched by trade unions in 2014: a resounding 76.3% rejected what would have been the world’s highest nationwide minimum wage of CHF22.

The votes on Sunday mark the first time that a minimum wage has been introduced at a municipal (local) level in Switzerland.

However, questions remain about whether such a local measure is legally admissible, and it’s not impossible that the question will yet come before a court, the Keystone-SDA news agency wrote.