Geneva: in the watchmaking industry, Unia sees its union delegates flee

The crisis that Unia Genève is going through is exacerbated in the watchmaking sector. According to “Le Courrier”, this fall, more than half of the union delegates working in the largest companies in the sector (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin) gave up their apron. They were reacting in particular to the dismissal, by the workers’ defense organization, of the union secretary responsible for watchmaking and mechatronics. At Rolex, for example, seven out of eight delegates left Unia. A poster put up at the beginning of December announced this, giving as the reason “disagreement with the current management of Unia Geneva”. The Geneva daily calculates that since the end of 2023, around fifteen union employees have left: administrative employees, union secretaries and members of management.

Unia’s management highlights growth in its members in the watchmaking sector in 2024. It does not specify the reasons for the annoying dismissal, for reasons of personal protection. She denies any loss in the quality of services. And she judges that the figure of fifteen departures is “irrelevant, because it includes voluntary departures, ends of fixed-term contracts and terminations during the trial period, which is part of the life of an organization” .