Construction industry Construction workers take a stand against excessive working hours
Several hundred construction workers demonstrated in Bern on Friday in support of a new collective labor agreement and against excessive working hours. Instead of countering the shortage of skilled workers with better conditions, the master builders did the opposite.
31.10.2025, 11:03
31.10.2025, 12:31
SDA
The protesters gathered on Bern's Waisenhausplatz. Most construction sites in Bern and the surrounding area were at a standstill on Friday, as Unia representatives said at a press conference. The major construction sites for the renovation of Bern railroad station and the new police center in Niederwangen were also affected.
After the rally on Waisenhausplatz, a parade through the city was on the agenda. The national collective agreement for the 80,000 or so construction workers expires this year. The fifth round of negotiations ended this week without results.
"Nothing works without construction workers, as we are showing today," said Chris Kelley, Co-Head of the Construction Sector at the Unia trade union. The construction industry would be short of one in four qualified bricklayers or foremen by 2030 and one in three by 2040, explained sector head Nico Lutz. Five years after completing their apprenticeship, ten percent would leave the industry.
Nevertheless, the Swiss Association of Master Builders wants to worsen working conditions, said Lutz. Employees are particularly concerned about the long working hours and travel times from the company to the construction site.
Excessively long working days
The master builders wanted 400 hours of overtime per year and Saturday as a normal working day without a bonus. They also refused to pay for the normal snack break. The employers wanted to set travel times of up to two and a half hours a day, said Lutz. Half an hour of this is unpaid. This would lead to excessively long working days.
The argument of the highest wages after the apprenticeship is also not far off, continued Lutz. According to the master builders, starting wages should be reduced by a quarter. The employers' side had not budged in the slightest from these positions in five rounds of negotiations.
If the national framework agreement - the collective employment agreement in the main construction industry - expires in 2025 and is not renewed, the two unions Unia and Syna are threatening an industry strike in 2026.
Nationwide actions
The unions are currently drawing attention to their concerns with protests and work stoppages in all parts of the country. The first day of protest took place in Ticino on October 20. Bern will be followed next week by French-speaking and north-western Switzerland, and later Zurich.
The Swiss Federation of Master Builders will be discussing the next steps at its delegates' meeting next week. The master builders want to keep the working week at 40.5 hours and introduce flexible working hours so that construction sites can independently compensate for lost working time due to bad weather, for example. According to the unions, this means working on Saturdays.
