The labor action was the first nationwide strike of any union there in more than 55 years. Organizers of the one-day work stoppage said 3,000 workers put down their tools in Geneva, while hundreds stopped work at major construction facilities in Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lucerne, and eastern Switzerland.

Last March 10,000 construction workers demonstrated in the nation’s capital, Bern, to demand a contract with a reduction in the retirement age. They threatened to call a national strike for April 3, which was averted when the employers’ Swiss Construction Federation (SCF) made a last minute deal to lower the retirement age to 60. The unions say the bosses reneged on the agreement when SCF director Daniel Lehmann claimed that a downturn in the economy meant that pensions for the earlier retirement would have to be decreased. Workers have threatened to escalate their strike activity if no progress is made.

For years construction workers have demanded an earlier retirement age because many do not last until age 65 due to the brutal working conditions. Half of the workers in the industry either die before retirement or fall seriously ill before reaching that age.

Many construction workers in Switzerland come from other countries, including Albania, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. A union rally in the local hall in Zurich heard speeches in several languages.

The construction workers’ protest is part of an increase in labor actions in Switzerland, puncturing its image as a country with "peaceful labor relations." On November 1 thousands of public workers marched in the streets of Bern to protest regional cutbacks. Postal workers have threatened to strike against plans to chop 2,500 jobs around the country, while telecommunications and retail workers are reportedly preparing for work stoppages later in November.  
 
 
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