Inflation compensation and higher minimum wage: 140 francs more per month for many Coop employees

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Large Swiss retail companies are doing well. The same is true for Coop: last year’s profit was 562 million francs, and a similar amount is expected this year.

Staff have experienced little in this regard recently: Wage and contract negotiations in recent years have not yet kept up with inflation. But now the Coop’s social partners – Unia, Syna, the Coop Employees Association (VdAC) and the Swiss Trade Association – report successful wage negotiations in 2024.

Accordingly, all Coop employees with a monthly wage of up to 4,800 francs will receive a general wage increase of 140 francs. With a wage of 4,800 francs, this means a wage increase of around 3 percent, and of course slightly more with lower wages.

Total wages will be increased by 2.2 percent. For employees with higher wages, there are also individual wage increases of around 1.5 percent.

Vouchers not part of salaries

Anne Rubin (54), Unia’s head of negotiations, explains to Blick that the social partners represent approximately 38,000 Coop employees out of a total of 60,000 employees in Switzerland. “Almost half” of them will benefit from the 140-franc wage increase.

“Finally, long-term employees who have been enticed by small improvements in recent years or left empty-handed by individual wage increases will also get a significant pay increase,” says Rubin. This means that the entire cost-of-living adjustment and last year’s loss – typically only 2 percent, but only up to 4,500 francs in wages – have been compensated.

Rubin also emphasizes that the wage agreement expressly excludes coupon distribution. This means that Coop cannot declare consumer coupons valid in its own supermarkets and special formats as wage increases. Instead, the wage increase needs to be paid for in cash and in a sustainable way.

However, Coop states that the company offers shopping vouchers worth up to CHF 500 to all employees, depending on their workload.

Minimum and apprentice wages increased

It also significantly increases the Coop minimum wage. The minimum wage is 4200 francs (previously 4100), the reference wages are 4300 (2-year education, 4150 so far), 4400 (3-year education, 4200 so far) and 4600 (4-year education, 4300 so far).

As Coop itself has reported, apprentices will also benefit from a pay increase from August 2024. Previous salaries will increase by CHF 100 each. The apprentice fee is currently 1,000 Swiss francs in the first year, 1,200 in the second year, 1,400 in the third year and 1,600 Swiss francs in the fourth year.

What is being done at Migros?

In September, Migros and its social partners agreed to increase the wage bill for 2024 by up to 2.5 percent. Migros companies subject to L-GAV also gradually adjusted their minimum and reference wages.

Depending on the company and economic difficulties, the wage bill will be increased by between 2.1 and 2.5 percent. The company-specific design is coordinated with the local personnel commission. These talks are taking place right now.

Minimum wages were already notified last year and were the same as the Cooperative.

Source :Blick