SDA labor dispute settled with mediation
The labor dispute between the SDA news agency (now Keystone-SDA-ATS-AG) and its staff has been settled through mediation. The parties signed a settlement agreement on Wednesday before the Federal Conciliation Board.
The conclusion of the settlement also marks the end of the strike measures, as the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) further announced on Wednesday. The settlement brings in particular significant improvements for already terminated SDA employees over 60 years. They will now not be dismissed or offered a new job. They also receive the assurance that they will not be dismissed for economic or structural reasons until they reach the normal retirement age. In addition, the social plan includes the payment of additional monthly wages to employees who have been made redundant, additional benefits in the event of dismissals involving a reduction in working hours, and a fund for hardship cases.
SDA management had announced in January that it intended to cut 35.6 of 150 full-time positions. After a brief warning strike failed to produce any progress from the employees' point of view, the editorial staff went on an indefinite strike on January 30, which was suspended on February 2 in favor of negotiations with the Board of Directors. After four rounds, the Board of Directors delegation declared the negotiations to have failed and called in the Federal Conciliation Board.
The workforce welcomed conciliation. The main points of discussion were the scope of the reduction and the content of the social plan. The conciliation body, chaired by Marc Häusler, governor of the administrative district of Oberaargau BE, mediated between Schweizerische Depeschenagentur as well as the editorial commission of SDA, the Syndicom union and the professional association Impressum. (SDA)
