Swiss unions to protest discrimination

Hundreds of thousands of members of Switzerland's Trade Unions Federation will go on strike next week to protest what they say are continuing inequalities faced by women in the workplace.

The action on Monday will come ahead of a planned debate in the Swiss Parliament on reforms to the state pension system that seeks to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65, according to a report by Euronews.

The federation, an umbrella organization that represents 20 trade unions with a membership of 370,000, said in a statement on Monday, that the proposed increase to women's retirement age would be "met with bitter resistance at the ballot box and on the streets".

The Guardian noted that the first national women's strike in 1991 was "the biggest industrial action in Swiss history", with more than 500,000 women walking out of their jobs to protest against discrimination "a decade after sexual equality became law".

Two years ago, hundreds of thousands again took to the streets of Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva, to demand higher pay, greater equality and more respect, protesting that one of the world's wealthiest countries continued to treat half its population unfairly.

Switzerland has lagged behind many of its European neighbors in gender equality, according to The Guardian. It said Swiss women only got the vote in federal elections in 1971, "decades after most of the Western world, and until 1985 needed their husbands' approval to work or open a bank account".

Euronews reported that Swiss unions have repeatedly raised the alarm about workplace discrimination in recent years, particularly on low pay for women.

The federation has stated that if nothing is done to change the situation, the gender pay gap will not be closed for "another 80 years".

"The lower wages, part-time work and unpaid work lead to today's scandalously poor pension situation for women - with no end in sight," it said.

The Swiss government says raising the retirement age for women by one year would save around 10 billion francs ($11.1 billion) between 2022 and 2031.

Critics say that the average pension for women who retired in 2019 was 1,160(Swiss) francs ($1,276) per month, while for men it was 2,144 francs ($2,360).

Roles performed more commonly by women are not being remunerated fairly, according to former Green Party member of Parliament Katharina Prelicz-Huber, president of the Swiss Union of Public Service Personnel.

Quoted by Euronews, she said: "A childcare specialist earns 4,000-4,200 francs a month when starting in a career and, after 10 years of experience, 4,500-4,700 francs per month.

"The only reason for the low wages is that the work is done by women. A credit and risk manager, meanwhile, starts on 8,750 francs a month.

"If the caregiver still has their own children and only works part-time, they can expect a miserable pension in old age (compared to) a princely pension for the manager: an untenable situation."