A minimum wage of $25 an hour?

Ah, yodelers, it’s the day of work when you don’t have to work and can think about whether the Swiss should vote for its workers to receive the highest minimum wage in the world (22 SF/$25 an hour) on May 18.

Would you say "ja" to $25 an hour?

$25 an hour? It seems extravagant to the rest of the world. But then again, the rest of the world isn’t paying $25 for a plate of mediocre Chinese food. Or 57 cents a minute to make a national phone call. Or $11 for a 15-minute train ride—in 2^nd class, no less.

That’s why the Swiss minimum wage should be put in perspective (and also why The Frau wishes the American government would put the salaries of its citizens working abroad in perspective too).

After all, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world. But despite this, the country still seems to want to make it livable for everyone. The Frau likes this.

But is a salary of SF 4,000 ($4,533) a month livable in Switzerland? It seems crazy to the rest of the world that the answer might be no. But if you watch this video created by swissinfo.ch, you’ll see that with “low” salaries and high costs of everything from healthcare to food—even $4,533 a month can be a struggle in Switzerland.

That being said, how would you vote on May 18?

Just say no to six weeks of vacation

On March 11, the Swiss voted on a number of issues. The one I was most interested in? Would the Swiss vote in favor of six weeks of vacation for all? (Right now the Swiss have a mandatory four weeks of vacation).

Six weeks of vacation would have been a no-brainer "hell, yes" vote from a foreigner like me, but alas, my predictions were right: the Swiss voted "no" to six weeks of vacation. Why? As one Swiss colleague put it, "We don't want to be like the French."

Would you have voted for six weeks of vacation?

The Black Sheep Return

Maybe you've noticed. Our friends, the black sheep, are back to being beat up on posters everywhere from the Zurich HB to your own backyard. The vote to deport foreign criminals is back on Nov 28.

Now. Let me get something straight. In principle, I have nothing against the idea that foreign criminals who commit certain kinds of crimes should be deported. Yes, they've broken the rules and why should Swiss people pay to lock them up?

But.

What I have against the whole argument is the way the SVP party presents it. With propaganda. With fear. A fear so great that it makes even non-criminal foreigners like me feel dirty. And a fear that makes its own sweet citizens, my neighbor included, put double locks on their doors and install security systems. All of this in a country as beautiful and crime-free as Switzerland.

I also have a problem with the issue because it includes the word "foreigner". What defines a foreigner? If I have a child in Switzerland and they grow up here, are they a foreigner too? Just because they don't have a Swiss passport? It seems like the foreign criminal issue is just an another excuse to discriminate.

What do you think?

To read more, visit my piece on Fear in Switzerland, over on swissinfo.

Say "Ja" to to the Rauchverbot

I love this ad that ran today in Blick am Abend, the local freebie paper that all the commuters in Switzerland read. The headline reads, "Criminalizing the Smoker?" The copy says something to the effect of, "The Canton of Zurich wants to create a total smoke free city. We believe banning things doesn't help. We rely on common sense. It's absurd that the government wants to control all our rights."

It pictures lots of things being banned--cars, drinking, dogs, bikes, smoke, and the best--questions. You get an idea for how regulated and rule-driven Swiss life is from this one little ad.

But what's really absurd is that most of the rules in Switzerland are petty. Things like, don't flush your toilet after 10pm. Don't do your laundry on Sunday. No shopping on Sunday, etc. etc.

Anyhow, this ad wants to get people to vote "no" on banning smoking in Zurich. The vote is on September 28. The last vote on this issue, held last year, failed to ban smoking.

So what I find absurd about all of this is that when it comes to things that effect health--proven, scientific research that second-hand smoke kills--this is the one rule that the Swiss just can't seem to pass. My dog must attend mandatory obedience class. Trash is strictly regulated. But my health is not.

It's absurd that I have no choice but to have smoke blown in my face every morning at the train station. It's absurd that my clothes have gotten little holes in them from cigarette ashes blowing on me as I try to board a train. It's absurd that a country so in love with rules can't pass the one that matters more than almost all of them.

If smokers keep their "rights," then what about non-smokers rights? I already gave up on eating out, think twice about going for a drink because that will also involve a shower, and hold my breath for as long as possible at the smokestack that is the main train station.

So while I wouldn't say we should criminalize smokers, as this ad claims, we non-smokers should have the right to breath something other than someone else's habit. I have nothing against designated smoking areas, I just want to step off a train and be able to breathe. Is that so much to ask? Come on Switzerland, if Italy can do it, anyone can.