Necessary turnaround in wage and income policy: Wages in Switzerland must rise

dossier

“At today's delegate meeting (DV), the delegates of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions SGB debated the growing wage arrears. The delegates see a major problem in the low wages of skilled workers. Therefore, a resolution was passed for an increase in wages after apprenticeships and substantial wage increases for everyone. Anyone who has an apprenticeship should earn at least 5,000 francs a month. (…) Real wages are not significantly higher today than in 2016. There is a risk of a “lost decade”. The main reason is that many employers were not prepared to provide their employees with cost-of-living compensation - even though productivity is constantly increasing.A change is needed in Swiss wage and income policy. The real wages of normal and low-income earners must rise significantly…" From theMedia release from May 31, 2024 from the SGB , see more information:

• Switzerland: The lower the wage, the higher the health risks
  "Employees are absent from work more and more often because they are sick or have had an accident. In 2010, full-time employees were absent from work for an average of 6.3 days. In 2025, it was already 8.1 days. The number of days of absence increased in practically all professional groups. However, there are big differences between the professions. While managers were absent from work for five days due to illness or accident in 2025 and employees in scientific professions almost six days, the figure was Office workers, service workers and retail workers were absent for almost 9.5 days, unskilled workers for almost 12 days and machine operators for more than 12 days (...) These figures show that absences are particularly high in physically demanding jobs: it has been proven that physical stress at work, such as carrying loads, puts a strain on employees' health Stress and high demands have a negative impact on health. More and more employees are stressed, around 30 percent feel emotionally exhausted (…) Health protection in the workplace must be improved so that employees get sick less. But the citizens in parliament want exactly the opposite: They want to extend working hours and restrict rest periods. Instead, working hours should be shortened so that there is enough time for relaxation. Article by Noémie Zurlinden from September 25, 2026 in the work newspaper of Unia 
• The wave of attacks on employees in Switzerland continues: Right-wingers want to send wage earners to the social welfare office despite having a 100 percent job
  "They continue to ignite: The bourgeois majority of the Commission for Social Security and Health of the Council of States (SGK) wants a federal dictate for starvation wages and to make Sunday the usual working day. (…) For years, ideological employers have been mounting attack after attack on the rights of employees via their parties. Wage earners should work 17 hours a day, 7 days a week, and preferably at wages that are below the subsistence level. (…) The Council of States is busy in the spring session again with corresponding proposals. Its responsible commission is now determined to reduce the cantonal minimum wages decided by the people and to force employees to work on Sundays and for less money: Anyone who works more than six Sundays per year should no longer receive a 50 percent bonus. The unions have won over two thirds of the votes on longer shop opening times (…) Even more important than protecting the health of employees gives employers the idea that in Switzerland the wages for a 100 percent job have to be enough to live on. That's why they are fighting minimum wages that are enough to live on. Because, as employer director Roland A. Müller said in March 2025 to the National Council's Economic Commission: A living wage is "not the job of employers" and: "At some point, social assistance has to step in." (…) The bourgeois parliamentary majority brazenly adopts this logic: In June 2025, the National Council decided to override cantonal and municipal minimum wages through lower CBA wages.A federal dictate against democratic referendums. Not even the Federal Council with its anti-social SVP/FDP majority was in favor of it. Now the Economic Commission of the Council of States is responsible for this. (…) It is already clear: If the Council of States says yes to the federal starvation wage dictate, the people will have the final say.” Article by Clemens Studer from February 17, 2026 in the Work newspaper of unia 
• The wage gap is widening: wage developments in Switzerland have never been weaker since the Second World War
  “Wage developments over the last ten years have been disappointing. This is shown by the new results of the Swiss Wage Structure Survey. In 2024, the average wage was 7,024 francs (for a 40-hour week, times 12). Adjusted for the sharp rise in prices, this is just 6 francs more than in 2016 (see graphic). The higher health insurance premiums have by no means been paid for. Things look even worse when it comes to low wages. The low wage, in comparison to which only one or one in ten employees earns less, has even fallen by 21 francs after adjusting for prices.
  The wage gap is opening
  Things look better above. The high wage, in comparison with one in ten employees earning more, increased by 213 francs. The very high wages rose even more sharply, with only 1 in 100 earning more. Adjusted for prices, it rose by 3,761 francs. So while the gap opened up at the top, wages stagnated across the board…”Article by David Gallusser from January 5, 2026 in the Unia newspaper work (“Wage development has never been weaker since the Second World War”)
• [Wage demo on September 21st] Wage demands from the unions: Up to 5 percent more wages - due to inflation, wage arrears and a good economy
  “The wage development in recent years has been more than sobering. Despite overall good economic development, real wages are now below the level of 2019. After deducting inflation, employees are paid less today than they were five years ago. However, the companies' earnings situation is good. They raised prices. And thanks to the good economy, we can sell more. The SGB associations are therefore calling for wage increases of up to 5 percent. The coming wage round will be groundbreaking for Switzerland. Despite the good economy, real wages are lower today than in 2019. Many companies have not even provided cost-of-living compensation, which used to be a given when the economy was good. This wage arrears must now be made up. Wages should rise as much as labor productivity plus inflation so that the distribution between labor and capital does not change. Because this has not been the case in recent years, there is a wage gap of over 5 percent…”SGB ​​article from September 2, 2024 , see also:
  • Unions are fighting against loss of purchasing power: wages increased by 5 percent: good work must be worth it again!
    “More and more productive, but with less real money in the bag - that has been the bitter reality for most wage earners in Switzerland in recent years. The unions are now demanding up to 5 percent more wages. And they have good reasons.
    The facts are as well known as they are dramatic: as prices rise, wages lose value. Real wages have fallen for three years in a row - something that has never happened since the Second World War. The uneven inflation in recent years means that wage earners have up to 5 percent less money to live on in real terms. Nevertheless, they are at least 1 percent more productive year after year. This year there will be up to 1.4 percent inflation.  How did it get to the point where real wages are lower today than in 2019?…”Article by Clemens Studer in the Unia Work newspaper from September 2, 2024 
• New Unia study shows: The wage gap is widening. The top ten thousand are growing rapidly
  "... It is a spectacle that is on the program every year and still remains a smear theater: when it comes to wage negotiations in the fall, employer representatives complain so much that even stone statues almost cry. Business was going terribly sad, there was no way more wages were possible. In the spring they then rejoice over great deals and increased dividends, show off share buybacks in order to further increase the profits on the capital employed. Of course, this difference has nothing to do with that miracles happen over the winter months. It's pure tactics. In the fall it's about distributing the added value created by the workers, in the spring it's about satisfying the capital owners. Since 2005, the Unia union has been analyzing the wage gap in large Swiss companies Increased again in 2023. Five CEOs earned more than 10 million francs. At the top is Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, with an annual salary of 16.2 million francs - almost twice as much as in the previous year. Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS, received 14.4 million francs for just nine months of work, which corresponds to an annual salary of 19.2 million francs Ermotti receives practically the Swiss median annual salary for one day. Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider, who was dismissed shortly before the study was presented, increased his salary from 10.3 to 11.2 million francs last year.Overall, maximum wages rose in seven of the ten companies examined: The median of the highest ten wages grew by 3.5 percent, which shows that top earners in particular benefit from company profits. This development highlights the ongoing inequality in wages (…) The real wages of the middle and lower income groups in Switzerland fell in 2023 - for the third year in a row. While top salaries are rising, the purchasing power of most wage earners is decreasing. The reason for this is that inflation is not or incompletely balanced. Housing and energy prices have risen by 9.3 percent since 2020, transport costs by 12.8 percent and food prices by 4.8 percent. In addition, rising health insurance premiums are putting a strain on people. In 2023, premiums rose by an average of 6.6 percent, and a further increase of 8.7 percent is expected for 2024. Since the premiums are the same for everyone from the poor to the rip-offs, this increase particularly affects low- and middle-income households. (…) The rising maximum wages, the high dividends to shareholders and the billion-dollar share buybacks show that the corporations have more than sufficient resources to adjust low and medium wages. (…) Trade unionists will send another clear, loud and unmistakable signal for higher wages on September 21st: with the national wage demonstration in Bern.” Article by Clemens Studer in the Work – Unia newspaper – from August 26, 2024 
• Switzerland: The money is there – the purchasing power of employees has been falling for years. The second largest trade union umbrella organization is calling for a flat-rate wage increase
  "In Switzerland, too, the purchasing power of employees has fallen in the past three years. This was not due to the economic development of the Alpine republic: since 2021, real GDP has increased by seven percent, while real wages have fallen by three percent. "There is therefore an urgent need to catch up on wages," commented Thomas Bauer, head of economic policy at the trade union umbrella organization Travail.Suisse in a press release on August 19th. Travail.Suisse is the second largest umbrella organization after the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions. (…) The inflation rate in Switzerland was 2.8 and 2.1 percent, respectively, in international comparison, and yet a large part of the Swiss population is suffering from increased costs of living. However, companies are taking a stand and see no need to pay out more wages The fight is not yet lost. "In view of the uncompromising attitude of the employers' associations, the employee representatives have gone to the arbitration court," said Roger Lang, head of social policy at the HGU, in a recent statement. The unions do not want to accept the fact that the economic growth is not noticeable for the wage earners, but rather only for the capitalists profits, but the employees.It is therefore “unacceptable for employers to keep the productive profits for themselves,” emphasized Yvonne Feri, President of Syna, in recent days. First and foremost, the demand for a flat-rate wage increase should stabilize the purchasing power of employees and combat “social inequality”. (…) As a calculation example from Travail.Suisse makes clear, real wage development is at a similar historical low to ten years ago. With an income of 4,900 francs (around 5,130 euros), there was only a small increase of seven francs in 2024. In the same period, however, the health insurance contribution for a family of four rose from 9,372 francs (around 9,813 euros) to 12,924 francs (around 13,532 euros): an increase of almost 37 percent with a de facto wage zero. This pattern runs through all other examples. So it's clear that real wages fell for virtually all employees while the cost of living rose. The fact that the other side breaks off negotiations and remains stubborn forces the unions to persevere. The money is there. The fight for fairer distribution will continue despite all setbacks.” Article by Kim Nowak in the young world from August 22, 2024 
• Wage demo on September 21st: high time for higher wages! Prices, rents, health insurance premiums: everything is getting more expensive!
  “Since the end of 2020, prices have risen by an average of 8 percent. This is huge! This hits people and families with low and middle incomes particularly hard. It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to make ends meet. Real wages have fallen since 2021. And that even though the economy is booming. Now wages have to go up! That's why there's the big wage demo in Bern on September 21st…”Call of the Unia in the run-up to the wage negotiations in the fall
• Wage development in Switzerland: A triumph for companies. Never since the Second World War have real wages in Switzerland fallen continuously for so long
  "... Real wages in Switzerland are declining. According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), real wages fell by 3.1% between 2020 and 2023 (-0.8% in 2021; -1.9% in 2022; -0.4% in 2023). Real wages fell for three years in a row - this has never happened since the Second World War! The amounts, This is anything but insignificant. The annual purchasing power of a wage earner with a median wage is “CHF 2,860 lower today than it was in 2020” (NZZ, July 25, 2023). But in reality the decline is even more serious Health insurance premiums, which are not included in the LIK, increased by almost 15% on a national average within 13 months - between December 2022 and January 2024 (...) The situation in the public sector is not much better than in the private sector, as the example of the canton of Vaud shows 4.3%" (Numerus, June 4, 2024). With a few exceptions, other cantons have developed similarly. But it gets even worse: There is no development trend in sight that would make up for the wage losses suffered in recent years. Nominal wages in Switzerland rose by only 0.6% in the first quarter of 2024, which in turn is far below the increase in the CPI, i.e. inflation.(…) The falling real wages are the result of companies wanting to claim an ever larger share of the wealth that was ultimately generated by none other than wage earners. This is reflected in the record dividends (the share of company profits distributed to shareholders): in 2024, 64 billion francs will be paid out for companies listed in the Swiss Performance Index (SPI), which corresponds to an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous year and follows an increase of 6.3% between 2022 and 2023 (NZZ, April 19, 2024). Added to this are the billions raised through share buyback programs – another means of remunerating shareholders. Contrary to the myth that companies like to claim, this is not due to the so-called “wage-price spiral”. This is also confirmed by the daily newspaper Bahnhofstrasse: "Unlike in the USA or the euro area, no signs of such a spiral have recently been observed in Switzerland. (...) One has to speak more of a price-profit spiral or simply of a redistribution from bottom to top. In addition, companies have received one tax gift after another in recent years: tax exemption for dividends, introduction of wealth tax brakes, reduction in profit tax, etc. It is really time for a change of course." Article by Agostino Soldini (trade unionist VPOD) from June 28, 2024 at socialism.ch 
• Trained people earned more: a wage of at least 5,000 francs with an apprenticeship
  “Despite having completed an apprenticeship, one and one in three employees work for a wage of less than 5,000 francs – calculated on a full-time basis. At today's 307th delegate meeting of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB), the delegates decided that all employees with apprenticeships must earn at least 5,000 francs so that apprenticeships remain attractive. In general, wages must be at least 4,500 francs. The wages must be enough for everyone to live on. (…) The SGB demands that anyone who has completed an apprenticeship should earn at least 5,000 francs per month. In general, wages must be at least 4,500 francs. In order for wage development to be more balanced and the wage gap to close, general wage increases and a move away from unfair bonus wage systems are needed.”Media release from May 31, 2024 from the SGB 
• Wage demo on September 21st: High time for higher wages!
  “Real wages have fallen since 2021. And that even though the economy is booming. Now wages have to go up! That's why there's the big wage demo in Bern on September 21st…”Unia campaign page 

See also:

• the dossier:Popular initiative “YES to the minimum wage” – failed, the fight for legal minimum wages in Switzerland continues
• and last:Premiums down: Premium relief initiative on June 9th in Switzerland

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