A committee made up of left-wing parties, aid organizations and trade unions has submitted the “A Wage to Live” initiative. The city council’s counter-proposal deviates only slightly from the initiative text.
Those who work 100 percent should also be able to live on their wages. That is the idea behind the minimum wage initiative.
With their demands, the initiators want everyone to be able to live off their wages. According to the initiative, which was submitted in a similar form not only in Zurich but also in Kloten and Winterthur, the minimum should be 23 francs per hour. According to the initiative committee, there are around 17,000 employees in Zurich who earn less than 23 francs. That’s less than 4,000 francs a month.
Also for under 25 year olds?
The Zurich city council already showed great sympathy for the demand last year, but nevertheless declared the initiative partially invalid for legal reasons. Although it is fundamentally compatible with higher-level law, a tripartite commission as an enforcement body is not legal. The city council therefore announced that it would have a counter-proposal drawn up.
Now this counter-proposal is available: He, too, relies on a minimum wage of 23 francs per hour. According to the city council, such a minimum wage is a means of reducing working poverty and the risk of social welfare in the city of Zurich. When it comes to actual implementation, however, he sets other priorities. Above all, the counter-proposal forgoes the creation of a tripartite commission; the social partners are to be involved in the implementation as an advisory body to the city council.
One other point in particular should give cause for discussion. In addition to the exceptions to the minimum wage already provided for in the initiative (interns, apprentices, family members in the family business), under 25-year-olds without a professional qualification should also be added. The city council wants to prevent temporary jobs with a minimum wage from becoming more attractive than vocational training.
21 francs in Basel
The initiative committee is now resolutely rejecting this idea: An exception for under 25-year-olds would be “fire-dangerous”, according to a statement. Young people are already being exploited to an above-average extent with part-time jobs. There is not a single collective labor agreement in Switzerland with such an exception. The council needs to improve on this point.
In principle, however, the committee welcomes the counter-proposal of the city council. A minimum wage was voted on in Basel in 2021; the initiative, which demanded 23 francs an hour, was rejected. On the other hand, the counter-proposal was accepted with a minimum of 21 francs. A nationwide minimum wage was rejected in a referendum in 2014.