Trade unions in Switzerland have their origins in the 19th Century when the country began to
industrialise. Workers' associations first formed in the 1860s which assumed union functions, mutual insurance activities, sponsored candidates for election and campaigned in
referendums
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
. In 1873 a number of the associations in the German-speaking areas formed the Workers' Federation (), which represented around 5,000 by the late 1870s and campaigned for legislative reform. In 1880, the Workers' Federation dissolved itself into two separate wings; the
Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB/USS) and the
Social Democratic Party.
For the most of the latter half of the 20th century, trade unions enjoyed relatively stable and secure positions within the country's consensus-oriented industrial relations system. However, following the recession of the early 1990s, trade unions came under increasing pressure from employers and the government which promoted the deregulation of labour markets, less binding collective bargaining and weaker
wage growth.
At present, there are two
national trade union centres; the
Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB/USS) with approximately 385,000 members and
Travail.Suisse with approximately 170,000 members. The former is associated with
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
political currents in Switzerland, the latter somewhat associated with
Christian Democratic currents.
References
{{Authority control
Economy of Switzerland