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Silke Koltrowitz, Paul Arnold and Isabelle Cox, Feb. 25, 2014, Reuters.com
BERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Introducing the world's
highest minimum wage would hurt Switzerland's competitiveness and lead to job
cuts, harming precisely those low-income workers it is designed to help, the
Swiss government said on Tuesday.
Swiss voters will decide in a popular vote on May 18 if they
want to introduce a minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs ($24.73)an hour, or 4,000
francs a month, much higher than in other countries. "The government is convinced it would be wrong for the
state to impose a nationwide wage," economy minister Johann
Schneider-Ammann told a media conference.
A minimum wage of 4,000 francs could lead to job cuts and
even threaten the existence of smaller companies, notably in retail, catering,
agriculture and housekeeping, Schneider-Ammann. "If jobs are being cut,
the weakest suffer most," he said.
A vote in favor of the initiative, brought forward by Swiss
union SGB and supported by the Socialist Party, would be another setback for
the government and business leaders. Swiss voters ignored their warnings and
backed curbs on immigration from the European Union this month.
In Switzerland, interest groups can enforce votes on new
laws if they collect a sufficient number of signatures.
"I warned before the mass-immigration vote that it
could have consequences also in the job market ... both (mass immigration and
minimum wage) together would be very problematic," Schneider-Ammann said.
About 330,000 workers in Switzerland, mainly female, have
full-time jobs that pay under 4,000 francs - too little to live on decently in
the expensive country, the SGB says.
The cost of living in Swiss cities is among the highest in
the world, but high salaries make up for it, UBS said in a recent report. That
report showed Zurich residents had the highest purchasing power worldwide in
2012.
The SGB argues the minimum wage would not lead to higher unemployment.
It would encourage welfare recipients to take up a paid job, the union says,
and allow those who now work several jobs to focus on one position.
Read the full story: www.mobile.reuters.com
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I always love how they say raising the MW will not hurt job growth(eventhough it always does), and it will encourage welfare recipents to find work.. Umm if they were already willing to work. THEY WOULDN'T BE ON WELFARE.
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