‘Business elite are starting to radicalise’

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Employers are on the attack. On Monday, her association presented measures to tackle the shortage of skilled workers – and they are tough. The newspaper is actually a pamphlet against part-time work: employers demand that we all work more and longer – up to 70 years and older. “Political initiatives seeking short-time work should be rejected,” they write. The demands sparked outrage on the left. SonntagsBlick met Pierre-Yves Maillard, President of the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions, at the Federal Palace for an interview.

Sunday view: Mr. Maillard, employers say we don’t work enough. What do you think of that?
Pierre Yves Maillard: Employers are in an uncomfortable situation: there is a shortage of skilled workers. This puts workers and unions in better positions in wage negotiations. The employers’ organizations are therefore doing everything they can to change this as quickly as possible. They do not realize that they are cutting themselves in the flesh.

What do you mean?
As inflation eats away some income, we need higher wages, not lower ones. We now see what happens when purchasing power falls: massive bankruptcies in the hospitality and retail sector. The policy of the employers’ organization is anti-business, it harms the interests of its members and the general public.

You notice it: you are angry.
Naturally! The business elite is beginning to radicalise. They sit in their boardroom and dare to tell a nurse or a bus driver that they need to work more. Your demands are a provocation.

The fact is that the working population today works 14 days less per year than ten years ago. The trend towards more part-time work exacerbates the shortage of skilled labour.
Employer organizations always talk about freedom and flexibility. Now they want to tell people how much work they have to do. This is anything but liberal. Our society has changed over the last 40 years, but employers don’t seem to have noticed. I grew up in a working-class family, my father had no apprenticeship and yet he was able to feed a family of five with his wages. Today it takes two incomes. It is true that more wage labor is done today than 40 years ago.

Still, hospitals are struggling to keep their beds running. This can be life-threatening. Shouldn’t employees do more in times of crisis?
We are not training enough staff. That’s the biggest problem. In addition, many people drop out of healthcare. Why? Because the burden is too great. If we increase working hours, we will lose even more people. In sectors particularly affected by the shortage of skilled labour, we need to improve working conditions. Then people stay.

There are hosts who give their staff vacations. Builders pay high salaries to keep people. You said it yourself: these are good times for employees!
In theory yes. The crux is the increased cost of living at the same time. Certain industries have used inflation as an opportunity to raise prices disproportionately. There is no proposal in the employer program that could solve this problem.

What would your suggestion be?
In the coming months, many families will have to pay more for housing and healthcare premiums and VAT will also rise. We are entering dark times. One thing is clear to us: the next payment round will be extremely important. We demand a general increase in wages and pensions. A country that rescues a bank with CHF 259 billion can afford it.

The employers’ organization advocates more targeted immigration to combat the shortage of skilled workers. How willing are you to compromise here?
We accept the free movement of people if there are good accompanying measures. Switzerland is located in the middle of Europe, surrounded by countries where people earn a third of what we earn here. To keep it that way, one thing is clear: there is no future for the free movement of people without effective wage protection.

There is also a shortage of skilled workers abroad. Do you think recruitment in Germany, Poland or France is ethical?
Hardly. And I’d like to explain why: a friend of mine is 55, he has always worked, including in managerial positions. His business suffered greatly from the Covid pandemic and had to close. Now he can’t find a job and receives social assistance benefits. Others are no longer entitled to unemployment benefits or social assistance. But they are there. So there is still a lot of domestic potential – when employers finally start hiring seniors!

Your childhood friend will barely finish nursing school at age 55.
Maybe not, but he wants to work! There is also a lot of untapped potential among young people and many cannot find an internship. In my canton of Vaud, we have taken 7,000 young people off social assistance in 15 years. Thanks to coaching and support, they were able to complete an internship. That cost 30 million francs a year. But it paid off, because we had to pay less social assistance. Employers should invest in this instead of recruiting abroad.

Employers are annoyed that some students are taking too long and want to ask them to pay. Also, more people should go to the HSG and less to the Romance seminar.
So planned economy in individual education? The fact is: the working hours of the family have increased. If people work part-time, it has to do with the lack of childcare places.

Employers are also demanding expansion in this area.
And at the same time they want us to work more and longer. That’s absurd. If you are still working at 67, you will miss out on childcare. You don’t understand: with the increase in the retirement age, Switzerland’s largest crèche will be closed. If the grandparents work longer, they don’t have time to take care of the grandchildren.

What happens if the employers grant their demands?
Then you would have won twice: there would no longer be a shortage of skilled workers – employers would be able to squeeze even more out of their workforce. But it won’t be easy for employers. We will fight these demands vigorously.

Source:Blick

Livingstone

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.