(Photos: UN1A)

Switzerland’s construction workers, led by the BWI-affiliated UN1A, along with Syna, have secured a landmark victory after months of negotiations, with nationwide protests forcing breakthroughs in talks over the 2026–2031 National Construction Agreement (NCA), which governs the working conditions of nearly 80,000 workers. Originally scheduled for renegotiation in 2025, discussions stalled until sustained actions from workers shifted the balance, resulting in what unions describe as the most consequential package of improvements in decades. The new agreement extends the contract period to six years, replacing the traditional three-year cycle, and introduces automatic cost-of-living adjustments for minimum wages across the entire term.

The agreement delivers landmark changes, with combined wage and benefit increases approaching 10 percent over six years and automatic reopenings of wage negotiations if inflation exceeds 2 percent, protecting workers against rising costs. A notable gain is a new construction-site allowance, starting at CHF 4 per day in 2026 and rising to CHF 9 by 2028, compensating for travel and daily site expenses and providing a meaningful, tax-exempt monthly income boost directly to workers.

It also includes automatic inflation adjustments to minimum wages, with actual wages rising alongside inflation, though not always at the full rate. Travel time will count from the first minute, with parts compensated as working or overtime hours, ensuring fair pay for long commutes. Workers exceeding 50 combined work and travel hours per week will receive overtime pay with a premium. New options also let employees bank overtime for extended paid leave and give them greater say in how part of their overtime is used each year.

Other improvements include higher premiums and allowances for underground construction, expanded personal leave for marriage and bereavement, and adjustments to the permitted overtime/undertime range. One concession to employers is a reduction in long-term sickness benefits from 90 to 80 percent of wages, though short-term illnesses remain compensated at the higher rate.