Geneva civil servants are angry at planned cantonal cost-cutting measures.
Keystone-SDA
Nearly 2,000 people took part in a demonstration in Geneva on Thursday against planned cantonal cost-cutting measures. The march was preceded by a half-day strike.
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“Strike, strike and mobilisation: that’s it, that’s the solution,” the demonstrators chanted as they marched through Geneva on Thursday. By taking to the streets for the fourth time since last November, Geneva civil servants want to maintain pressure on the cantonal government and parliament.
Unions have warned against planned cost-cutting measures set out in the draft 2026 cantonal budget. They denounce the freezing of annuities for 2026 and the following three years, as well as an indexation freeze, with estimated salary cuts of up to 5.1%.
Vincent Bircher, president of the Geneva Public Services Union, condemned the canton’s “pre-emptive austerity”.
“Health, social services, education: budget cuts are everywhere,” said one demonstrator, calling on the population to show solidarity.
Adapted from French by AI/sb
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