News

Press release from UNIA
Bern / Lausanne/ Nyon, 10 April 2017
 
On Friday 7 April, the management of Generali and the staff representatives at the Nyon branch (canton of Vaud) of the Italian insurance company, signed a social plan. UNIA expressed its satisfaction after agreeing to the plan which reduces by half the original number of jobs that would have been lost after the transfer to Adliswil in the canton of Zurich. Support measures will be provided to employees who accept to relocate. Those that don’t, will receive a severance package as well as support in the form of job reintegration measures. This result was achieved thanks to the determination of the employees and the support provided by Unia.

After 4 months of tough negotiations and an initial offer to reduce the number of jobs to be transferred in January (of the 108 posts originally due to be relocated, it has now been agreed that 48 will remain in Nyon), Unia welcomes the conclusion of a social plan between the staff representation and Generali. The plan, which was accepted in a general assembly by 60% of the workforce, provides for compensation as well as assistance to help employees who have been made redundant because they do not wish to transfer to Adliswil to find a new job. A transfer package will also be made available to all employees who have accepted to relocate.

Severance and early retirement allowance

Generali will organise career coaching and mentoring sessions for an amount up to a maximum of 20,000 francs per person. Employees who are made redundant are released from work with immediate effect. They will receive a severance package which will depend on their age and years of service, ranging from 1 to 8 months’ salary.

A social support fund has been set up and it has endowed with 100,000 francs. Employees who have reached the age of 63 years may request early retirement.

Difficult negotiations

According to Unia, the negotiations were difficult to say the least. In spite of Generali’s healthy performance, it was unwilling to assume its social responsibilities. Thanks to the determination of the staff representation and Unia’s support, progress began to be made on a social plan. UNIA and the Generali employees are also particularly appreciative for the support received from UNI Global, whose interventions were instrumental in bringing the issue to the international arena. However, it took two half-day strikes, held at UNI Global's premises, before Generali agreed to sit at the table and negotiate.

On the strength of this experience, Unia will continue to develop its activities in the insurance sector so as to provide better protection to employees in a period marked by uncertainty resulting from digitisation.

For all information, please contact:

Yves Defferrard, Unia Secretary for the Canton of Vaud, 079 279 45 91

Arnaud Bouverat, Unia National Secretary for the Services Sector, 079 712 65 78

For the original press release in French as well as an Italian version, please see the related files section below.