Switzerland’s largest trade union, Unia, gathered in Geneva from 27-29 October for its four-yearly congress meeting. The trade union body with some 200,000 members from various professions including industry, services, and construction drew attention to a context of increasingly conflictual labor relations in the country. Against this backdrop Switzerland is also undergoing major localized economic changes in the form of ‘Uberization’ and digitalization, not to mention the debate over the free movement of foreign labor. Unia’s delegates adopted several resolutions for this new four-year term in a bid to conserve its social acquis (pensions) and to manage the ‘movement towards unlimited employment flexibility’.
Ms. Vania Alleva, Unia President argues that the trade union body has nothing to be ashamed about as regards the four-year term that has just come to a close. “We succeeded in preserving early retirement from age 60 for construction workers. This is a significant social acquis for workers that are carrying out a tough and arduous job on construction sites. We also secured a national collective labor agreement (NCA) for service station workers; marking a first for the retail sector, even if only
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