Equal treatment demanded

hey criticize the fact that the people laid off in Bern do not receive the same assistance benefits as provided for in the social plan of 24 heures and the Tribune de Genève.

Tamedia grants employees of the Berner Zeitung worse severance conditions than those in French-speaking Switzerland. Following an initial wave of layoffs in French-speaking Switzerland, five employees of the Berner Zeitung were also given notice in mid-October for economic reasons. They are now demanding the same conditions as those negotiated in French-speaking Switzerland. Among other things, they are also demanding a support fund of 20,000 francs per dismissed person. Imprint and Syndicom support these demands, as they see no comprehensible reason for the different treatment of the affected Tamedia employees.

Virtually the entire staff of the Berner Zeitung and many Bund employees, a total of 155 employees, are now petitioning the company management for equal treatment.

Urs Thalmann, Managing Director of Impressum, comments: "The job market for journalists is very difficult at the moment, and those laid off in Bern are certainly no better off than those in French-speaking Switzerland." Syndicom secretary Marco Geissbühler says: "The different treatment within the same company is discriminatory and also embarrassing for a publishing house with such a large financial scope."

In particular, the benefits of the early retirement offered to older employees who have been made redundant are completely inadequate - and this after they have worked for the company for many years. Imprint and Syndicom are calling for a substantial improvement on this point that goes beyond the social plan in French-speaking Switzerland.

The following points of the Suisse Romande social plan will not be offered by Tamedia at Berner Zeitung:

• 20,000 Swiss francs per person made redundant are paid into a fund to extend the notice period or to finance retraining or innovative projects of the company's own, depending on the needs of the persons concerned.

• Joint bodies have the final say on the use of the funds and the application of the social plan.

• For two years after dismissal, affected persons have a right to reinstatement when new jobs are advertised.

• Laid-off employees are free to determine whether they will be released during the notice period.