Switzerland has said no to the highest minimum wage in the world. 76,5% of voters who went to the polls last weekend rejected the popular initiative referendum "for the protection of fair wages".
The project, supported by the trade unions and opposed by the government and businessmen, provided for a national legal minimum wage of 22 francs an hour (18 euros), or about 4 francs a month (just under 3.300 euros) for temporary employment full 42 hours per week. All 26 cantons and semi-cantons voted against.
According to Economy Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann, the innovation would have caused a loss of employment (although, to date, the Swiss unemployment rate is 3,5%, one of the lowest in the world), and more would have been the less skilled workers and those active in peripheral areas.
According to the left and the trade unions, on the other hand, paying a worker less than 22 francs an hour – also considering the exorbitant cost of living – is simply shameful for a country where the average salary in private companies is 6.118 gross francs a month, while workers earning less than 4 thousand francs represent only 10% and are mostly concentrated in sectors such as retail, catering and agriculture.
