"Only" twelve redundancies in western Switzerland
Thanks to negotiations among the social partners, the number of layoffs at the French-speaking Swiss daily newspapers *Tribune de Genève* and *24 Heures* has been reduced by half.
Instead of 24 editors, only twelve will be laid off. Tamedia Romandie had initially announced at the end of September that 31 jobs would be cut. The Zurich publishing house threatened 24 employees with termination. Seven jobs would have been eliminated through voluntary departures and retirements. Tamedia had justified the cost-cutting measures with an accelerated decline in advertising revenues since the beginning of the year.
After massive protests by the editorial staff and the unions, the social partners had agreed in October to minimize the number of layoffs by offering alternatives. As a first step, the number of layoffs was reduced to 20 by various editors voluntarily agreeing to reduce their workloads or accept a social plan. As Tamedia and the Association of Swiss Journalists Impressum announced on Tuesday, it has now been possible to halve the original number of redundancies from 24 to twelve as part of this negotiation concept. A social fund negotiated with Tamedia will help the affected journalists with professional reorientation. (SDA)
