Switzerland: what are the repercussions of the women’s strike of 14 June? (in brief)

Can the impact of the massive ‘women's strike’, which brought nearly 500,000 Swiss people onto the streets of the country on 14 June, be assessed? In the eyes of Unia, the largest trade union in Switzerland, delegates of which met at a general assembly on 22 June in Bern,  this entirely atypical movement, which has gone far beyond the confines of the world of work, has been “so significant that it will not be possible to draw a definitive conclusion for a long time to come”. Unia, which highlights that women still earn on average 660 Swiss francs less per month than men, with in other words 10 billion francs “taken from women each year”, calls for systematic checks at companies and effective sanctions against offending employers as an immediate measure to combat pay inequality. In addition, the union has pledged a vast wage campaign in sectors in which women are more likely to work, such as retail, in order to gradually put an end to low wages and precarious working conditions. While these plans were made in Bern, Swiss parliamentarians voted in favour of a few small symbolic reforms, though without providing a sufficient response to the issues raised by the strike. The Council of States (which represents the Swiss cantons) has decided to set indicative values for the representation of women in the management of companies: 30% on boards of directors and 20% in company directorates (currently, 21% of board positions are held by women, who account for 9% of roles in directorates). The issue is that the bill establishes neither an obligation nor sanctions. The Council of States has also approved a two-week period of paternity leave as a counter-bill to a popular initiative calling for four weeks.