the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 15, 2010
A proposal put in front of Swiss voters in a March referendum was to cut pensions, especially for those with the lowest salaries.
Giving the capitalists a little surprise, almost 3 out of 4 voters said NO. In fact, this vote was apart of a long campaign by some unions and political parties to turn the pension issue into a referendum. By Swiss law, a referendum can be used against a new law.
The Swiss government had already begun cutting pensions with a law it passed in 2003. This new proposal was to be a second attack on pensions. It was pushed by the insurance companies, complaining about the average life span – which has improved.
Perhaps the Swiss population pushed back after watching its own financial institutions gain 18% on the stock market this past year.
No doubt the government and the bosses are already planning new attacks. To really push back the bosses, it will take more than a referendum; it will require workers to take their fight onto an entirely different field. But this one time at least, the world of labor pushed back the world of capital.