1/5
Oceana Galmarini disclosed her salary.
Sermin Fakipolitical chief
SRF presenter Oceana Galmarini (28) ventures out of cover and talks about her wages. The Graubünden woman revealed her salary to the current “Weltwoche”: she earned 6020.40 francs net last month.
There is a reason why Galmarini talks so openly about her earnings: she wants to campaign for wage transparency. Talking about wages is still taboo in Switzerland. “In Switzerland, one rarely talks about wages, sometimes not even among friends.” But wage transparency is important.
topic in politics
Green National Councilor Natalie Imboden (52) thinks so too. She sees wage transparency as a means of increasing wage equality. And there is still a lot to do, as she says. “Although the constitution requires equal pay for work of equal value, the wage gap between the sexes in the private sector has stagnated at a high 19.5 percent.”
A month ago, Imboden therefore submitted a parliamentary initiative calling for more wage transparency. Specifically, she wants employees, but also applicants, to be able to know about the wage structure at the employer.
New equality law: Slightly better odds for wage lawsuits(01:18)
“Every employee, every applicant should have the right to know how well or poorly he earns in comparison to others in a similar function and with a similar background,” says the native of Bern. “At the same time, he or she should also know what the rest of the wage structure is like in the company.”
More bargaining power for unions
In addition, Imboden demands that the companies also have to make certain wage data available to the unions. Imboden openly admits that this is intended to increase the bargaining power of the unions.
“Today there are huge differences between the sectors. A KV job, for example, is paid significantly better in the pharmaceutical industry than in the catering industry. » But only if the workers’ representatives knew that could they achieve adjustments.
Extensive regulation in the EU
Imboden’s advance should have few chances. In the EU, meanwhile, things are already a step further. The EU Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers have agreed on a far-reaching wage transparency rule.
Employees and employee representatives are given the right to receive clear and complete information on individual and average wage levels, broken down by gender. And: Employment contracts must no longer contain clauses that prevent employees from disclosing their wages.