by Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch

Switzerland may be a rich country, but there are still many “working poor” – people who work but are under the poverty line – a situation unions want to change.

Signatures supporting an initiative calling for a minimum wage were handed in on Monday, despite opposition from employers. But the practice is already widespread across much of Europe.

In recent decades, the wage gap has exploded, also in Switzerland. Whereas around 30 years ago a manager earned a maximum 30 times more than their least well paid employees, nowadays the salaries of some managing directors are more than 1,000 times that of their lowest paid staff.

The jury is out on whether this is due to increased international competition or simply greed. But there are calls for the situation to change, with three people’s initiatives against the salary gap having been launched in recent years.

Two of them want to set limits on managers’ salaries. The third, handed in on January 16 by the Trade Union Federation, wants a minimum wage for Switzerland of SFr22 ($23.1) per hour or around SFr4,000 a month.

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Sectors with the lowest wages include restaurants and hotels, cleaning services and retail (Keystone)