News

UNI welcomed the Socialist Party members of the Grand Conseil of the Canton of Vaud to its headquarters today as the local leaders met there to put together a response to pharmaceutical company Novartis’s announcement it will shut down all its operations in the area and cut a total of 1100 jobs in Switzerland.



Novartis has facilities in Basel and in the small town of Nyon, where UNI’s head office is based. The cuts will be felt heavily in Nyon, which has a population of about 18,000.



UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings offered his support to the local leaders and to the Swiss trade union UNIA and ICEM, the global union for chemical workers, which represents workers in the pharmaceutical industry.



“The Novartis workers in Nyon are our neighbors and our friends and we will offer any support we can to help keep them keep their jobs and take care of their families,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. “We believe that this was a calculated decision geared to make shareholders happy by cutting jobs even though the company is in strong financial shape and we will support the workers, their unions and the local community as they fight back. I have been impressed by the speed with which the unions, political authorities and public have reacted and found a common voice of protest. They are the 99%.”