Switzerland: vivid debate over the referendum to reduce the gap between the highest and lowest wages in companies

On November 24, Swiss citizens will have to vote for or against the popular initiative launched by the Young Socialists.  They want to impose, via a constitutional amendment, a maximum 1-12 difference between the lowest and highest salary in an undertaking or a group of undertakings belonging to the same entity.  Though recent survey show that the strong support given to this initiative, known as 1:12, is apparently going down, a lot of large businesses are worried and some managements even wrote to their employees.  In case of a yes vote, opponents mention several outsourcing scenarios as well as divisions into several entities.  (Ref.  130695)
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Employers are active and united against the initiative. Swiss employers are sounding the alarm: “With the 1:12 initiative, the left-wing is asking the State to interfere with companies’ business by introducing a diktat on pay. What will the consequences be? Some jobs will be outsourced, unemployment will rise, fiscal revenues will decrease as well as other AVS contributions (editor’s note: retirement insurance), amounting to billions, taxes and other debits will increase, and there will be m

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