Saturday , November 2 2024
Home / SNB & CHF / Thousands demonstrate in Bern for equal pay

Thousands demonstrate in Bern for equal pay

Summary:
Demonstrators gather in front of parliament in Bern (Keystone) A national rally in favour of equal pay and against discrimination has taken place in the Swiss capital, attracting some 20,000 people, according to organisers. Unions, political parties and supporting organisations said in the run-up to the rally on Saturday that although equality was enshrined in the constitution 37 years ago and the law had been in force for 22 years, even today power and money are distributed differently among women and men. Women earn about a fifth less than men, are underrepresented in politics and business and do most of the unpaid work, they added. As a result, every woman loses out on an average of CHF600 (5) a month – money

Topics:
Swissinfo considers the following as important: , , ,

This could be interesting, too:

Guillermo Alcala writes USD/CHF slides to test 0.8645 support with US inflation data on tap

Swissinfo writes Swiss central bank posts CHF62.5bn profit

Nachrichten Ticker - www.finanzen.ch writes Trump-Faktor und Marktbedingungen könnten für neuen Bitcoin-Rekord sorgen

Charles Hugh Smith writes Is Social Media Actually “Media,” Or Is It Something Else?

Thousands demonstrate in Bern for equal pay

Demonstrators gather in front of parliament in Bern (Keystone)

A national rally in favour of equal pay and against discrimination has taken place in the Swiss capital, attracting some 20,000 people, according to organisers.

Unions, political parties and supporting organisations said in the run-up to the rally on Saturday that although equality was enshrined in the constitution 37 years ago and the law had been in force for 22 years, even today power and money are distributed differently among women and men.

Women earn about a fifth less than men, are underrepresented in politics and business and do most of the unpaid work, they added. As a result, every woman loses out on an average of CHF600 ($625) a month – money that was not being paid to wives, their families and retirement plans, and was also not being paid in taxes.

The organisers called on the House of Representatives to enforce the Equality Act with effective instruments, arguing for mandatory wage controls and fines for companies that don’t respect wage equality.

In May, the Senate decided that companies employing at least 100 workers – that is, less than 1% of employers – should carry out a pay equality analysis every four years and have it verified by an independent body. The Federal Council wanted to set the bar at 50 workers.

The House of Representatives will vote on the issue on Monday, with the decision expected to be tight.

SDA-ATS/ts

Tags: ,,
About Swissinfo
Swissinfo
SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Since 1999, swissinfo.ch has fulfilled the federal government’s mandate to distribute information about Switzerland internationally, supplementing the online offerings of the radio and television stations of the SBC. Today, the international service is directed above all at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at Swiss citizens living abroad.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *