Parmelin resumes mediation on abusive dismissals
Published: Friday, Oct 11th 2024, 12:00
Updated At: Friday, Oct 11th 2024, 12:21
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Economics Minister Guy Parmelin has resumed mediation on the abusive dismissal of trade unionists. This came about after the Federal Council spoke to the external mediator Franz Steinegger. Mediation begins immediately .
The proceedings stem from a complaint filed by the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) against Switzerland with the International Labor Organization (ILO), as announced by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) on Friday. The SGB complained about the lack of protection against dismissal for unionized employees.
In 2019, Parmelin therefore initiated a tripartite mediation process between the federal government, trade unions and employers' associations in order to find a solution. According to the EAER, this was suspended in November 2023 in "consultation with the social partners". The social partners had other priorities. The trade union Unia, on the other hand, stated that Parmelin had broken off the process "unilaterally and for inexplicable reasons".
As the EAER wrote, the Minister of Economic Affairs has always been prepared to continue mediation at the request of the social partners. Parmelin has now informed them of the immediate start of mediation until November 1, 2025. According to his assessment, the chances of reaching an agreement are good.
At the beginning of 2020, Parmelin brought in Franz Steinegger, former National Councillor from Uri and ex-FDP President, as an external independent mediator. According to the trade unions, Swiss legislation does not sufficiently prevent employers from dismissing staff representatives or whistleblowers.
However, older, pregnant and sick employees are also inadequately protected against dismissal. Since 2019, Switzerland has been on the ILO blacklist of countries that do not respect trade union freedom.
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