Unia union demands better protection against redundancies
Published: Monday, Aug 12th 2024, 18:10
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The trade union Unia and several employees who have been victims of abusive dismissals met with Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin on Monday. The Federal Council was asked to improve the inadequate protection against dismissal in Switzerland.
The problem of "anti-union dismissals" must be tackled, the union subsequently announced in a press release. Last year alone, 21 cases of anti-union dismissals were documented in Switzerland. In reality, however, there are probably many more.
According to the union, the legislation in place here does not sufficiently prevent employers from dismissing staff representatives or whistleblowers. However, older, pregnant and sick employees are also inadequately protected against dismissal.
According to Swiss trade unions, they submitted a complaint to the International Labor Organization (ILO) for this reason back in 2003. In 2006, the ILO approved this complaint and called on Switzerland to amend its legislation, as it was deemed inadequate. In 2019, the ILO placed Switzerland on the blacklist of countries that do not respect trade union freedom.
Unia recalled that Economics Minister Parmelin had initiated a tripartite mediation process between the federal government, trade unions and employers' associations in 2019 in order to define a valid solution. In November 2023, however, Parmelin suspended the process "unilaterally and for inexplicable reasons". For Unia, this is unacceptable, as there is an urgent need for action.
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