Swiss reject world’s highest minimum wage
Print Edition
SWISS voters yesterday rejected proposals to introduce the world’s highest minimum wage and spend US$3.5 billion buying new Gripen fighter jets from Saab.
About 76 percent of voters in the wealthy nation dismissed the proposal made by Swiss union SGB and backed by the Socialist and Green parties for a minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs (US$25) per hour, final results showed.
Meanwhile, some 53 percent blocked a government plan to free up funds to replace Switzerland’s aging fleet of fighter jets with 22 Gripen jets from Saab. Just over 55 percent of those eligible voted, the government said.
The clear rejection of the proposed minimum wage — which corresponds to a monthly paycheck of 4,000 francs — brings relief to business leaders worried the measure would have hurt competitiveness and damaged the Swiss workplace.
“If the initiative had been accepted, without doubt that would have led to job cuts, particularly in remote and structurally weaker regions,” Swiss Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann said at a news conference.
Yesterday’s vote is the latest in a slew of initiatives being put to voters to try to address the widening income gap in the generally egalitarian country.
Voters overwhelmingly backed a referendum last year to give shareholders a binding say over executive pay, but turned down a proposal to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of a company's lowest wage.
Supporters of the minimum wage had argued the proposed measure would have helped smooth out salary inequality and ensure a person working full-time can live decently.
Despite the resounding “no,” Daniel Lampart, chief economist at SGB, said the debate around the measure in the run-up to the vote had prompted many firms to introduce a minimum wage of more than 4,000 francs.
Discounter Lidl raised minimum Swiss salaries to 4,000 francs last year and retailer H&M has vowed to follow suit next year, although employers do not acknowledge a direct link to the proposal.
Swiss voters have a history of voting against proposals they feel could hurt the country's economic success story or threaten competitiveness.
Yet the Swiss public unexpectedly voted by a razor thin majority in February to curb immigration from the European Union.
The “no” vote for the Gripen jets bucks a historic trend for public support for the military.
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