Swiss Ground Staff: Record Profits, But Hardly Any Compensation for Inflation?
Swiss has made an excellent recovery and expects a record result at the end of the year. In spite of that, Swiss management breaks off wage negotiations with the social partners (SEV-GATA, VPOD and Association of Commercial Employees) and unilaterally announces wage measures that do not even cover inflation. The SEV-GATA ground staff union demands that employees be granted fair participation in the company's success and that negotiations be resumed accordingly.
Employees react with displeasure, irritation and incomprehension following Swiss's one-sided communication. They are shocked by the termination of negotiations by Swiss management. With the protest note "Red Card for Swiss – Fair Wage Increases Now!" they demand: "Now it's our turn – we protest against Swiss's behaviour and demand the wage negotiations with the trade unions be resumed immediately. We expect that with record profits, we will also experience a record increase in wages, because we have made this successful result possible!"
The campaign is still running for a few days and Swiss management is well advised to resume negotiations with the trade unions. The company must grant its employees participation in the record profits, full compensation for inflation, and appropriate developments of the wage bands.
"Swiss employees also deserve to participate in the current success because they made sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic with a crisis CLA and other measures and then delivered top performances to allow for the ramp up," says Philipp Hadorn, President of the SEV-GATA ground staff union. "A decent wage increase for the year 2024 would therefore also be an expression of thanks, respect and due appreciation to the loyal staff."
SEV-GATA (Groundstaff Aviation Technics and Administration), the trade union for ground staff in aviation, advocates for members from a wide variety of companies such as Swiss Int. Air Lines Ltd., Swissport, SBS, Engie, ISS, Vebego etc. SEV-GATA is the aviation department of SEV, the Swiss transport workers' union. With around 37,000 members, the SEV is the largest trade union in the field of public transport in Switzerland. www.sev-gata.ch www.sev-online.ch
Further Information:
Philipp Hadorn, Union Secretary SEV and President SEV-GATA, 079 600 96 70