Trade unions unhappy with new Swiss-EU agreement

The Swiss-EU deal looks hazy to trade unions Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Trade unions in Switzerland are complaining about a lack of clarity surrounding the proposed new framework agreement to underpin relations with the European Union.

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The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions and Travail Suisse have both criticised the fast pace and dearth of detail in the Swiss government’s European policy roadmap, according to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Both unions will hold separate summits to discuss the issue with members on January 31. Top of the list will be measures to protect wages in Switzerland from an influx of labour from neighbouring countries.

Last month, Switzerland and the EU announced an agreement on future relations after years of negotiations.

“The Federal Council should now quickly come clean to the public about the content of the agreements and publish them,” Travail Suisse president Adrian Wüthrich to the newspaper.

“If it is not clear what is in the agreement, there can be no sensible talks about domestic policy measures,” said Daniel Lampart, chief economist of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions.

The Swiss Trades Association is also demanding more detail about the proposed agreement. “We have too little information to be able to make a decision,” said director Urs Furrer. But Furrer rejected the need for “irrelevant demands” from trade unions. “Under no circumstances are we prepared to sacrifice Switzerland’s liberal labour market,” he said.

Adapted from German by DeepL/mga

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