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Partenariat socialThe National dynamites the cantonal minimum wages
By two small votes, the right voted for the primacy of extended CCTs over cantonal laws guaranteeing a minimum wage. Despite Guy Parmelin’s warnings.
Guy Parmelin made it clear that this decision was contrary to the Federal Constitution.
DR
The National Council accepted this Wednesday by a very narrow majority (95 votes to 93 and 4 abstentions) a motion from the Council of States which wants to fight the minimum wages introduced in five Swiss cantons, including Neuchâtel and Geneva. According to this proposal, collective labor agreements of compulsory force (CCT) should take precedence over cantonal laws.
Last June, the Council of States accepted this motion by Erich Ettlin (C/OW) by 28 votes to 16 and one abstention. It followed the introduction in the canton of Neuchâtel of a minimum wage confirmed by a judgment of the Federal Court in 2017. The canton of Geneva also approved in 2020 a popular initiative for a minimum hourly wage. Business circles want to anchor the primacy of the CTTs in the law, in particular to reserve the possibility of paying lower wages.
Cantonal sovereignty
Wednesday’s debates reserved a good battle between the rapporteur of the commission, the national councilor and president of the USAM Fabio Regazzi (C / TI), for whom “social partnership and collective rights create a fair balance between employers and employees. The motion only asks for primacy over minimum wage, 13th salary and vacation. Various socialist speakers, Baptiste Hurni (PS/NE), Pierre-Yves Maillard (PS/VD), Cédric Wermuth (PS/ZH) or even Fabien Fivaz (V/NE) defended cantonal sovereignty and the legitimacy of cantonal votes in the perspective of a social policy and not a contractual one.
Guy Parmelin on the job
Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin spared no effort to point out to what extent this motion went against the powers of the cantons, the Constitution or federalism: “A CLA is a private agreement, subject to private law, it does not have the value of a law. It cannot contradict the mandatory law of the Confederation and the cantons. The cantons can adopt a law with the aim of following a social policy as confirmed by the Federal Court. This is a poverty alleviation measure. The possible tensions in certain CCTs do not justify an intervention of such a scale, which is also problematic at the level of federalism”.
The arguments of the Federal Councilor had little echo in his own party, the UDC. With the PLR and a good part of the Center, the supporters of the CCT therefore won by two votes. The motion having been accepted in both chambers, the Federal Council must now come back with a bill, which will have to be debated again in Parliament. Until then, the minimum wages in the cantons remain in force.