Demonstration 500 people demonstrate against austerity measures in Ticino
Around 500 people took to the streets in Bellinzona on Saturday to demand good working conditions and respect for employees.
Image: Keystone
"We are not a cost item, we are society!" read a poster held by demonstrators in Bellinzona. The rally was held against the backdrop of renewed austerity measures by the Ticino government.
Image: Keystone
Around 500 people took to the streets in Bellinzona on Saturday to demand good working conditions and respect for employees.
Image: Keystone
"We are not a cost item, we are society!" read a poster held by demonstrators in Bellinzona. The rally was held against the backdrop of renewed austerity measures by the Ticino government.
Image: Keystone
Around 500 people demonstrated in Bellinzona TI on Saturday against the Ticino government's austerity measures. The organizing trade unions are demanding an increase in contributions to socio-medical and socio-educational institutions.
29.11.2025, 17:01
SDA
"Non siamo un costo, siamo la società!" - "We are not a cost, we are society!" reads a self-painted poster. A bright blue cardboard box reads: "Don't save what unites people."
Around 500 people took to the streets on Saturday to protest against the Ticino government's austerity measures, as the Bellinzona municipal police told the Keystone-SDA news agency when asked.
Ticino Unia leader Giangiorgio Gargantini sent a "message of solidarity" with the workers to the crowd during his speech in the Piazza Collegiata in the Ticino capital.
The only "unprivileged people" are those who set off for work in the dark and return home when it is already dark again. They were the only ones who knew what "real work" meant, Gargantini continued, before the demonstration marched on towards the Ticino government building. The partisan song "Bella Ciao" was played from a vehicle.
Cantonal finances in deep red
The background to the demonstration is the government's renewed austerity measures. The Ticino government is expecting a deficit of just under CHF 100 million for 2026 and a total deficit of CHF 700 million for the years 2027 to 2029. With the 2026 budget, the government also presented new cost-cutting measures amounting to CHF 120 million at the beginning of October.
However, left-wing parties and trade unions are not willing to accept further austerity measures, and demonstrations against the government's austerity measures have been taking place regularly for around two years. In November 2023, 6,000 people took to the streets against announced pay cuts for cantonal employees.
The organizers of the demonstration - the trade unions "Organizzazione Cristiano Sociale Ticinese" (OCST), the Swiss Association of Public Service Employees (VPOD), the independent trade unions of Ticino (SIT) and the "Stop ai tagli" ("Stop the austerity measures") committee - are also demanding wage increases to compensate for the inflation compensation lost in recent years.
