Construction industry Around 7000 construction workers demonstrate in Lausanne
Bricklayers from all over French-speaking Switzerland mobilized in large numbers in Lausanne-Ouchy on Tuesday to protest against the deterioration in their working conditions.
Image: Keystone
Pierre-Yves Maillard, President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, came to support the construction workers on the second day of the strike in French-speaking Switzerland.
Image: Keystone
Bricklayers from all over French-speaking Switzerland mobilized in large numbers in Lausanne-Ouchy on Tuesday to protest against the deterioration in their working conditions.
Image: Keystone
Pierre-Yves Maillard, President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, came to support the construction workers on the second day of the strike in French-speaking Switzerland.
Image: Keystone
Around 7000 construction workers from western Switzerland went on strike for the second day in a row on Tuesday and demonstrated against the deterioration in their working conditions. Some of the miners at the Gotthard road tunnel also walked off the job.
04.11.2025, 15:47
04.11.2025, 17:26
SDA
After gathering in a tent in Lausanne-Ouchy, 7000 to 7500 construction workers marched through the city in the afternoon, as counted by the Unia trade union and the police. The demonstration, accompanied by music and slogans, was peaceful.
Pietro Carrobio, head of the construction sector at the Unia Vaud trade union, explained at midday on Tuesday that a large number of construction sites in the Lake Geneva region were at a standstill. The mobilization is even greater than in 2022, when between 4,000 and 6,000 construction workers went on strike.
The proposals of the Swiss Federation of Master Builders (SBV) are unacceptable, Carobbio continued. In the event of a no-contract situation, "the bricklayers are ready to continue the strike at the end of the year or early 2026".
Visit from the SGB President
Pierre-Yves Maillard, President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) and member of the Council of States (SP/VD), expressed his respect for the demonstrators' work. In front of numerous bricklayers with drums and whistles, he denounced the working conditions that the "bosses" wanted to impose on them with a downwardly revised collective labor agreement.
It was not normal that travel time to the construction site or the snack break were not paid. Maillard also described it as "unacceptable" to ask construction workers to work on Saturdays while at the same time cutting wage supplements.
This situation is indicative of the new attitude of employers in Switzerland. In times of growth and while profits are being made, employers are asking employees to cut back, criticized the SGB President.
Miners in the Gotthard road tunnel also on strike
Miners who are building the second tube of the Gotthard road tunnel also went on strike on Tuesday. A majority of the tunnel builders in both Airolo TI and Göschenen UR stopped work and arranged a joint protest meeting in Airolo, Unia announced.
Further mobilizations of the approximately 80,000 employees in the construction industry throughout Switzerland are planned for Friday in Basel and for 14 November in Zurich.
The collective labor agreement - the national collective agreement - expires at the end of the year. After five rounds of negotiations, the Unia and Syna trade unions and the Swiss Federation of Master Builders were unable to reach an agreement.
