Swiss electors disapprove world's highest minimum wage, thwart new fighter jets buying plans

May 21, 2014

The voters in Switzerland turned down the proposals to introduce the world’s highest minimum wage and also blocked spending of $3.5 billion for buying new Gripen fighter jets from Saab. Saab Group (originally Svenska Aeroplan AB, later SAAB) is a Swedish aerospace and defence company was founded in 1937. About 76% voters rejected the proposal made by Swiss union SGB and backed by the Socialist and Green parties for a minimum wage of 22 Swiss francs ($25) per hour.
Around 53% blocked a plan to replace Switzerland’s senescent fleet of fighter jets with 22 Gripen jets from Saab. Had the proposal been accepted, it would have led to job cuts, particularly in remote and structurally weaker regions.
The initiative was proposed to address a widening income gap in the generally egalitarian country. Though voters approved giving shareholders a binding say on executive pay, but rejected a proposal to cap the salaries of top executives at 12 times that of a company’s lowest wage.

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