Swiss Post, PostFinance, the trade union syndicom and the staff association transfair have agreed on salary measures averaging 2.5% for 2023. In relative terms, these salary increases will benefit employees with low and middle incomes the most, since they are particularly affected by the increased cost of living. In addition, the minimum salary will rise to over 4,000 Swiss francs per month. In total, almost 30,000 Swiss Post and PostFinance employees will benefit from the outcome of the negotiations in the collective employment contract. They will receive the increased salaries from April 2023.

Swiss Post and PostFinance staff covered by the collective employment contract (CEC) will receive increased salaries. This year, 2.5% of the eligible salary sum will be used for general and individual salary measures. The social partners Swiss Post, syndicom and transfair successfully reached an agreement on this after several rounds of negotiations.

The economic and geopolitical situation remains challenging due to the war in Ukraine. People in Switzerland are feeling the immediate consequences of this – specifically with price rises in many areas of life. Therefore, a key concern of the social partners was to maintain the purchasing power of staff, particularly those on low and middle incomes. The key outcomes from the negotiations are:

• Staff with the lowest salaries will receive a salary increase of over 3.5%.
• To maintain purchasing power, those with lower and middle incomes, in particular, benefit from higher general salary increases. With higher incomes, correspondingly more funds are available for individual salary increases.
• The minimum salary will be increased by 1,850 Swiss francs to 52,503 Swiss francs. The individual salary bands will be raised by 3% or at least 1,850 Swiss francs. This means all postal employees covered by the CEC with a 100 percent employment level will now earn over 4,000 Swiss francs per month.

The 2023 salary measures will apply to a total of around 26,700 Swiss Post staff and around 2,600 PostFinance staff and will take effect from April 2023. The outcome must first be approved by the decision-making bodies – for Swiss Post and PostFinance this is the relevant Board of Directors’ Committee, for syndicom it is the delegate assembly, and for transfair it is the executive board for this sector.

A balanced outcome for all social partners

“The 2023 outcome works for all sides”, says Valérie Schelker, Head of Human Resources at Swiss Post and member of Executive Management. “The negotiations were challenging. But by engaging in a dialogue based on partnership, we were able to reach a balanced agreement in favour of staff. It enables us to meet our social and corporate responsibilities in equal measure”. In accordance with the CEC, the social partners negotiate salary measures every year. They are guided by the economic situation of Swiss Post, comparisons with competitor companies, development of average salaries by occupational group and salary region, and changes to the cost of living.

Matteo Antonini, Head of Logistics Sector at syndicom, says: “We were able to negotiate a high general share for salary increases – the general share is the salary increase that all postal employees in the CEC receive unconditionally, regardless of their individual assessment.” Kerstin Büchel, Head of Sector for Swiss Post/Logistics at transfair is also satisfied with the result: “For transfair, it is important that all postal employees benefit this year. The current outcome means substantial, general salary measures for 2023. We have been able to make a financially sustainable difference that employees will continue to feel over the next few years.”

Salary negotiations for staff at Post Real Estate Management and Services Ltd, PostLogistics Ltd, notime (Schweiz) AG, Presto AG and PostBus Ltd are still underway. These negotiations are being conducted separately.