Swiss union chief Maillard seeks CHF 5,000 minimum wage for workers with apprenticeships

A wage offensive from the trade unions

The Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB) wants a monthly minimum wage of CHF 5,000 for everyone who has completed a vocational apprenticeship. Its president, Pierre-Yves Maillard (58), set out the plan in a Blick interview. A popular initiative would be launched only if the SGB congress in Bern, held on 13 and 14 November, gives its approval, with signature collection expected to start in 2027. Maillard says the real wages of workers with apprenticeships have been falling and that this cannot go on. Alongside the wage demand, the union wants eight weeks of annual holidays for apprentices, and a petition with 176,000 signatures has already been filed.

“A vocational apprenticeship must pay off again, and the wage must be enough to live on.”

Maillard accuses employers of promoting apprenticeships as the royal road while skimping on pay.

Wage figures from the SGB

An SGB analysis finds that 28% of people with an apprenticeship earn less than CHF 5,000 a month in a full-time job, calculated over 40 hours and 13 monthly salaries. Another 15% earn less than CHF 4,500. Women are hit hardest, with about one in three below CHF 5,000 and nearly one in five below CHF 4,500. Since 2016 the median real wage of holders of a vocational qualification has fallen by 2.1%, after inflation. Early-career qualified workers earn on average CHF 4,571 gross a month, against CHF 6,189 for university graduates, and at the end of careers the figures are CHF 6,289 and CHF 10,438. Low pay is concentrated in sales, hairdressing, hospitality, daycare centres, and in jobs such as car mechanics and drivers.

Below CHF 5,000 a month28%

Below CHF 4,500 a month15%

Below CHF 5,000 a month

28 %

Below CHF 4,500 a month

15 %

Data from the article text

Employers and business groups push back

Nicole Meier, who handles education at the employers' association, says the group supports good wages but opposes a state-mandated minimum. She argues that pay should be set by companies, sectors and social partners, because structures and needs differ widely.

“Anyone who demands a statutory minimum wage of 5,000 francs immediately after completing an apprenticeship is starting at the wrong end.”

Fabio Regazzi, president of the Gewerbeverband trade association, puts it more bluntly.

“Additional regulation makes vocational training unnecessarily more expensive.”

Regazzi warns that companies could offer fewer apprenticeship places as a result. He accuses unions of pushing a uniform solution and of weakening social partnership by pursuing extreme demands after compromises are agreed. The Union patronale suisse (UPS) also opposes the plan, saying that the strength of vocational training lies in access to the labour market rather than in a floor set by the state.

Public support

A representative poll by the Feldlabor institute, commissioned by the SGB, found 66% of respondents backing state intervention to set the wage floor, against 25% opposed. A Blick reader survey with more than 18,000 participants shows 60% in favour and 37% against, while 3% said the question does not concern them because they already earn over CHF 5,000. Opponents fear that higher wages would push prices up further, while supporters argue that prices rise every year and wages do not.

Support state intervention66%

Oppose25%

Support state intervention

66 %

Oppose

25 %

Data from the article text

What happens next

The SGB congress in Bern on 13 and 14 November decides whether a popular initiative is drafted. If delegates agree, the text will be prepared, and signature collection is expected to start in 2027. Employers have already rejected the plan, leaving the wage floor contested before any signatures are gathered. The timeline below sets out the steps so far and those still ahead.