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.