This has long been a thorn in the side of the SVP. Federal employees not only benefit from a high degree of job security. They often significantly outperform private sector workers when it comes to salaries. This recently emerged from a study by the Institute for Swiss Economic Policy (IWP). The average salary in the federal government is 117,176 francs, compared to 88,896 in private companies.
And that’s not all. Federal employees can look forward to numerous privileges. In the case of occupational pensions, they also enjoy benefits that in some cases go well beyond the legal minimum. There is also the possibility of receiving a childcare allowance. And civil servants may have work they do on their way to work officially recognised. Or they receive so-called local allowances of up to 5,300 francs, depending on the cost of living in the workplace.
End «paradise conditions»
If the SVP has his way, these “paradises” should now be over. The party immediately submitted a whole series of proposals with which it wants to end the numerous privileges. After all, the federal government will have to tighten its belt in the coming years and the staff will also have to contribute. After all, the roughly 38,000 federal agencies now cost more than six billion francs a year.
The SVP not only wants to limit holidays to a maximum of five weeks, but also, for example, to limit the rates for pensions that the federal government pays for its employees to a maximum of five percent above the legal minimum. And just to be on the safe side, the party wants to completely abolish the current federal personnel law and apply the Swiss Code of Obligations instead.
Federal fears private competition
However, the Federal Council around the responsible SVP Finance Minister Ueli Maurer (71) does not want to know anything about this. His reasoning: he wants to prevent employees from migrating en masse to the private sector. “The Federal Council must ensure that the federal government can recruit and retain the required quality and number of employees to fulfill its tasks,” the government argues. The employment conditions are arranged in such a way that this goal can be achieved. Developments in the labor market are continuously monitored.
The Federal Council and the administration are also aware “that a public employer has limits when it comes to the design of employment conditions”. Thanks to the competitive employment conditions, the administration can usually fill vacancies. This has become more difficult, especially given the shortage of skilled labor in Switzerland. And it probably won’t get any easier in the future either.
“It’s Always the Same Complaint”
“It’s always the same complaint,” says SVP National Council member Mike Egger (30) irritably. Here civil servants would receive an average wage of 120,000 to 150,000 francs, such a wage would be paid at most in the private sector in management and not on average. And there the pressure is certainly greater than with the administration.
“The federal administration needs to get back to reality.” After all, this is all paid for by the taxpayer. In any case, the SVP would not let the matter rest. Egger: “We will continue to fight for a lean and efficient state.” (dba)
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
