In Geneva, the desire of the Geneva government to modify, to the detriment of the employee, the distribution of welfare contributions for state personnel, is not accepted by the civil servants’ unions. On Monday, they said everything bad they thought about this project.
“We are very angry”, underlined Geneviève Preti, the president of the Inter-union Cartel of State personnel and the subsidized sector, to the media. The executive wants to increase the State’s contribution to the CPEG from two-thirds to 58%. That of the employee, a third today, would increase to 42%.
The reform, which would also affect the pension funds of the Geneva police and Public transport, would only concern new arrivals to the State. Employees already in place would keep the current conditions. For Ms. Preti, if the project passes, this distinction will cause a “generational divide”.
The Council of State estimates that with the new distribution key it will save 14 million francs by 2027. In the eyes of Jean-Luc Ferrière, of the SIT union, the executive is making fun of the world with its financial argument. In recent years, state revenues have grown faster than its expenditures and the debt has decreased, he noted.
A useless project
Furthermore, mentioning, as the government does, that the reform will make it possible to get closer to the Swiss average, is “politically pathetic”, noted the trade unionist. “We should do like the others” and not stand out with a “progressive” approach. This bill is unnecessary and unfair, concluded Ms. Preti.
For new state or public transport employees, the contribution distribution key desired by the government will have an impact on the net salary. The expected drop ranges between 1.7% and 3%. Such a reduction would nullify other measures that have been granted such as the indexation of salaries.
Public service unions also fear that attacks on the conditions governing the civil service provident fund (CPEG) will continue. A project aiming to move from the primacy of benefits to the primacy of contributions would be “gestering” on the right of the political spectrum.
The unions will call for the mobilization of their troops against this project. They are already considering launching a referendum if the modification of the distribution of contributions is accepted by the Grand Council. “We hope, however, that it will not come to that,” stressed Ms. Preti.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
