13 October, 2011Thanks to their tenacity and to grass-roots mobilization, the negotiators of UNIA, the Swiss IMF affiliate, have succeeded in thwarting the employers' drive toward flexibility and achieved some gains in social benefits.
SWITZERLAND: Representatives of UNIA and the watch-making industry have just signed in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, a new collective agreement in the watch and micro-technology sector. It will apply to the approximately 400 enterprises in the industry covered by the agreement (mostly small and medium sized enterprises) and 85% of workers in the watch-making industry, which employs about 48,500 people.
Major progress was made in the area of social benefits, the minimum starting wage and the creation of a flexible retirement scheme. In addition to an increase in the employers' contribution to the health insurance fund, a family and training benefit of 30 francs will be added to the existing amounts. As regards the starting wage, the union obtained an increase of 100 francs per month for those cantons where wages are lowest, and 80 francs for the others. The employers' attempt to raise fluctuating hours from 30/45 to 30/48 hours was rejected.
According to Jean-Claude Rennwald, the architect of the new agreement and the officer in charge of the watch-making industry at UNIA, flexible retirement is the most innovative area of progress. Workers in the industry will now be able to reduce their working time by 20% two years before the legal retirement age with the assurance that the employer will cover half of the lost pay at his expense. It will also be possible to reduce working time by 40% one year before retirement, with the employer covering lost pay.
Furthermore, union access to the plants will be improved and delegates to UNIA professional conferences (watch-making, industry) will receive one day of paid leave per year to attend them. Regarding temporary employment, which affects about 4% of employees in the sector, negotiators achieved the establishment of a joint commission which will investigate abuses.
The new agreement is the result of eight months of negotiations. It has been concluded for a period of 5 years, and will come into force on January 1, 2012. Negotiations on adjustment of pay to inflation as of January 1 of the following year take place every year in September.
Major progress was made in the area of social benefits, the minimum starting wage and the creation of a flexible retirement scheme. In addition to an increase in the employers' contribution to the health insurance fund, a family and training benefit of 30 francs will be added to the existing amounts. As regards the starting wage, the union obtained an increase of 100 francs per month for those cantons where wages are lowest, and 80 francs for the others. The employers' attempt to raise fluctuating hours from 30/45 to 30/48 hours was rejected.
According to Jean-Claude Rennwald, the architect of the new agreement and the officer in charge of the watch-making industry at UNIA, flexible retirement is the most innovative area of progress. Workers in the industry will now be able to reduce their working time by 20% two years before the legal retirement age with the assurance that the employer will cover half of the lost pay at his expense. It will also be possible to reduce working time by 40% one year before retirement, with the employer covering lost pay.
Furthermore, union access to the plants will be improved and delegates to UNIA professional conferences (watch-making, industry) will receive one day of paid leave per year to attend them. Regarding temporary employment, which affects about 4% of employees in the sector, negotiators achieved the establishment of a joint commission which will investigate abuses.
The new agreement is the result of eight months of negotiations. It has been concluded for a period of 5 years, and will come into force on January 1, 2012. Negotiations on adjustment of pay to inflation as of January 1 of the following year take place every year in September.