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Voters OK minimum wage for Geneva as wealth gap widens
The initiative, which had the support of all the left-leaning parties, had been presented as a remedy to poverty and precariousness, which have become increasingly visible in wealthy Geneva since the coronavirus crisis began.
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A man wearing a protective face mask rides his bicycle past the entrance of Geneva Airport amid the COVID-19 outbreak on May 28, 2020, in Geneva. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)
G
eneva voters on Sunday came out in support of introducing a minimum wage, guaranteeing every worker in one of the world's priciest cities at least US$25 an hour.
Switzerland as a whole has no minimum wage, and voters in 2014 turned down a chance to adopt one at a national level.
Geneva voters themselves have twice previously rejected calls to introduce a minimum wage in the city.
But on Sunday the winds appeared to have changed as the coronavirus pandemic has deepened the wealth gap, with 58 percent of voters in the canton coming out in favor of the unions-backed initiative.
The result made Geneva the third of Switzerland's 26 cantons to set a minimum hourly earnings rate after Jura and Neuchatel.
The initiative, which had the support of all the left-leaning parties, had been presented as a remedy to poverty and precariousness, which have become increasingly visible in wealthy Geneva since the coronavirus crisis began.
Long lines of people waiting for handouts of food and other necessities have become a common sight in the city.
The unions behind the initiative argued that it was impossible in Geneva to live in dignity making less than 23 Swiss francs ($25, 21 euros) an hour, or 4,086 francs a month for a full-time 41-hour work week.
Rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment is at least 3,000 francs, and a coffee costs four or five francs.
Geneva's minimum wage vote was just one of many national, regional and local issues on the ballot Sunday as part of Switzerland's famous direct democratic system.
At a national level, voters appeared poised to make history on another social issue by approving paternity leave for the first time in the country long renowned for its traditional approach to family models and gender roles.
That referendum to grant new fathers two weeks paid leave looked set to pass with nearly 57 percent of the vote at the national level, according to partial results, while full results in Geneva showed the canton backing the measure by over 79 percent.
