Amazing how easy is to pay less to your workers and give false excuses...

http://www.thelocal.ch/1502/20111017/

not happy with doing that, Farnair still has the time to blackmail the employees: if they do not accept being discriminated they lose their jobs.

That's absolutely disgusting.

(You quoting from The Local that is).

Fact is, employers at BSL (Basel Airport) have been paying their staff much lower wages than downtown Basel for years. With the airport on leased land from France, this area is like an enclave and it obviously attracts a bunch of 68ers (Mulhouse French license plate Département) folk who still find the wages to be good, it's those living in Switzerland that suffer the most.

It's not just Farnair, Jet Aviation have done it for decades. Welcome to free market economics and capitalism.

Yes but companies are free to do what they want here. You can be sacked without any reason, this explain why people don't publicly argue...but will vote massively for the SVP on Sunday!

Yup, you better believe it. And the SVP will probably hold their votes Sunday. The losers will be the Greens, BDP and CVP in my estimates.

Sorry I have no idea what is happening relating with quoting «The local» if there is something wrong about its publishing feel free to explain because I am not aware, I only read the news and felt that what was happening to these workers was wrong.
Free market and capitalism should have nothing to do with discrimination or using false arguments to reduce one's salary, the residents in Basel also profit from being close to France and Germany: the license plates I see on the parking lots of commercial surfaces on both countries are mainly Swiss.

Well you may see a lot of Swiss number plates on the car parks of French supermarkets precisely because our salaries are going down because of pressure from our French neighbours.

In short they take our jobs and we have to shop in their country-

I respect your point of view but the argument given is still wrong.

Read what Cristoph Blocher did with his EMS employees in the 1990's,

http://www.textverzeichnisse.ch/Text...rchResult=True

Thanks Sbrinz, sometimes an historical perspective reveals how worst is something which we consider already too bad.

A French resident working for Farnair paid 100'000CHF, has seen their salary rise, in terms of the Euro, in which they'll pay the vast majority of their living costs, from €60'000 to €80'000 in the last two years - a 33% increase.

The "fantasy" exchange rate leaves the employees slightly better than the current one (1.21 as opposed to 1.22). With the 10% cut, the French resident now has a salary of €75'000. Still 25% better off than 2 years ago. (I've had no payrise at all for years).

The argument that Swiss residents also shop across the border doesn't really bear much weight, since the majority of the their living costs remain in CHF.

Illegal - possibly. Unfair - I'm not really convinced. I'm surprised that Farnair paid their border workers in CHF in the first place, since most of their trading is in Euro (IIRC), and so they were just exposing themselves to the vaguaries of the currency markets.

In my humble opinion there is a slight difference between not having a payrise and having your salary cut down although the company seems to be profiting more and more each year not being affected at all by any kind of crisis (it looks like the workers actually do a good job):

http://bazonline.ch/wirtschaft/unter...story/28824922

All frontaliers I know have their mortgages in CHF though.

Isn't there a legal issue with the currency? Swiss company - so I've heard - are not allowed to pay their employees in other currencies, inkl. frontaliers/Grenzgänger.
The Basel/Mulhouse airport is a special case: legally, it's French and Swiss territory at the same time. That makes any employment discussion extremely complex.

That dilutes it a bit then. Rough calculation. 100'000CHF. Deduct a mortgage of 30'000CHF a year - implying a loan of ~ 800'000 CHF. Two years ago that would leave €46'000. Now (after 10% reduction and 1.21 conversion). €49'000.

It seems entirely likely that in real terms, they're still better off than they were two years ago.

strange ! you mean that "people" do not publicly argue but vote in favour of the party of the company-owners and "les patrons" ? And so vote in favour of being sacked without any reason ?

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Difficult to say about the Greens, but the BDP can only win, as it is a new party basically. The CVP may lose by points, but the main loser most likely will be the FDP. Some of the Veteran-grandees of the FDP, among them Mr Steinegger and Mr Couchepin will arrange a big FDP special meeting before Easter 12

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As civil aviation is a rather international market, reality is that they RESCUE your jobs, and give you the chance to shop in the Alsace.

If they had bought a home in France with an 80% mortgage financed in CHF, there are today probably technically bankrupt, as their liabilities will likely exceed their assets.

most of course still live in apartments rented in the Alsace, and this includes many CH citizens. Also in the Alsace, only a fairly small share of people own the houses where they live.

What really amazes me the most is that these workers do the same job as the Swiss,they contribute with the same competence,time and effort, the company is even expanding but they have to earn less than the Swiss or else will be fired... where should these people get help from?

I don't have the figures, but a significant proportion of people in France _do_ own their own homes. Round our way it's probably at least 50%

Part of my income is in GBP. I've had successive pay cuts in the past few years, precisely because of the exchange rates. Is it unfair that I am "paid less", for doing the same work? No, it's just part of economic realities.

"Earn less" is quite subjective. Many people come to CH from the UK, attracted by the higher salaries. Then discover that their actual liquidity is reduced. In terms of purchasing power, they're less well paid than their UK equivalents. Just on a higher salary.

Until these changes, in terms of purchasing power, these employees of Farnair had become significantly better paid than their Swiss colleagues. I can't see it as "unfair" or discriminating against non-Swiss. At best - annoying for those affected.

Home ownership in France is ~55% overall. Of course homes in France are considerably cheaper than in Switzerland, so my CHF800'000 mortgage example is very much overstating the real effect of French residents with Swiss mortgages. In reality, the effect is smaller.