Swiss reject €18 minimum wage

Swiss citizens rejected a proposal to introduce the world’s highest minimum wage of €18 an hour in a vote yesterday, according to first projections, bringing relief to business leaders worried the measure would have damaged the Swiss workplace.

About 77% of voters in the wealthy nation dismissed the proposal made by Swiss union SGB and backed by the Socialist and Green parties, a national projection for Swiss SRF television showed, while 23% were in favour.

“It is a clear vote by the people, a vote of trust in the economy,” Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss trades association, told Swiss television.