Good work in digital Switzerland
The ICT trade union Syndicom presented its demands for a successful digital transformation in Switzerland on Thursday. Strengthening the social partnership, additional investment in training and further education as well as the expansion of data protection and employee participation are key for Syndicom. These demands will be incorporated into the negotiations with Swisscom in the spring regarding the renewal of the collective employment contract, to which around 15,000 Swisscom employees are subject.
In response to the Federal Council's recently presented digitization report, the ICT trade union Syndicom published its Manifesto for a digital Switzerland with social responsibility. "It is imperative that the perspective of employees is also included in the political debate," says Giorgio Pardini, Head of Syndicom's ICT sector, with conviction. Initial signals are positive: "The federal government is involving us in the development of the second digitalization report and Swisscom is forming a working group with the social partners to tackle digitalization issues together," added Pardini.
Syndicom believes that circulating scenarios about professions soon dying out are pure scaremongering. "We assume that this is a long-term process, so that natural fluctuation and adjustments to job profiles will largely cushion the negative consequences for employees," explained Pardini. Syndicom has no sympathy for the demands of ideologically driven employers to no longer differentiate between employees and the self-employed. "The employment contract is an achievement of the modern age that offers employees material and social security, a great deal of freedom and a high quality of life," explained Pardini.
The key lies in education
Syndicom and the Federal Council agree on one point: one key to successfully overcoming the challenges on the labor market lies in education and adapting it to the skills required in the future. This applies to elementary school, vocational training and tertiary education, as well as to initial and further training in companies. Swisscom employee Pascal Bassu explained that a recent survey conducted by Syndicom shows what he also experiences in his day-to-day work: "Vocational education and training at Swisscom is good, but there is still room for improvement." Syndicom is therefore calling on Swisscom to enshrine a non-lapsable entitlement to further training in the collective employment contract.
Health protection also needs to be adapted to the digital age, because modern work and communication tools allow work to be carried out at different times and places. Syndicom is therefore calling for the right not to be reachable to be enshrined in collective employment contracts so that employees have enough time to switch off. For Syndicom, company co-determination and data protection are just as important as health protection. After all, only companies that do not turn their employees into transparent people and involve them in the decision-making process will manage the digital transformation quickly and successfully.
