The proposal, from unions and left-wing parties, was approved with 58 percent of the votes and should take effect on October 17.
It was a “mark of solidarity” with the city’s poor, responded Michel Charrat, president of the European Cross-Border Group, which supports those who live and work between the borders of France and Switzerland.
France 3 television reported that the Swiss city, whose economy depends on tourism and business travel, has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and theThe growing queues of people outside food banks have been a shock to city dwellers.
“Covid-19 showed that a certain part of the Swiss population cannot live in Geneva,” he said. “The minimum, in order not to fall below the poverty line and be in a very difficult situation, is 4,000 Swiss francs (3,715.35 euros) “monthly, he said.
The measure will benefit 30,000 underpaid workers, two-thirds of whom are women, he added.Geneva is considered the third most expensive city in the world, behind Zurich and Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.
The biggest beneficiaries of the measure will be the approximately 300 thousand workers who live in France but work in Switzerland.
Before last Sunday’s vote, Alexander Eniline of the Swiss Labor Party said that “the introduction of a minimum wage is a fundamental requirement of justice, and an essential measure against precariousness“. He added that the claims that the minimum wage will destroy jobs and increase unemployment” are unfounded “.
Switzerland’s wages may or may not be regulated by the authorities of the 26 cantons that make up the country. Two other cantons, Jura and Neuchâtel, already apply a minimum remuneration of 18.57 euros per hour. The rest of the country has no such measure.
The hour of work will be paid in Geneva to just under 21.50 euros, twice as much as in France, with a guaranteed monthly salary of 4,086 Swiss francs (3,794.32 euros) for a 41-hour week, or 49,000 Swiss francs (45,505.83 euros) per year.In France, the minimum wage is 10.15 euros per hour and 1,539.42 euros per month for a 35-hour week.
In mainland Portugal, the minimum monthly wage was set at 635.0 euros, for an annual total of 8,890 euros, corresponding to 14 months. Divided over 12 months, it will be 740.8 euros per month. The working week varies between 35.00 weekly applied in the State sector and 40.00 weekly in the private sector.
The measure was voted on Sunday in Geneva on September 27, in the same vote in which the Swiss rejected a proposal against the free movement of European Union citizens in the country.
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