Italian and Swiss trade unions in Como for what is announced as the first demonstration of cross-border workers who cross the border every day to work in the Swiss Confederation. A protest in front of the local headquarters of the Region “against the unfair tax on health” and to ask for “respect for the tax agreement signed in 2020 and which became law in July 2023”. Last December, as part of the budget law, the Italian government has approved a health tax for cross-border workersthe. Category representatives have been fighting against the new tax for months, without having achieved any results. A problem that adds to other unresolved difficulties, from teleworking to a clear definition of the lists of border municipalities. The demonstration is organized by CGIL, CISL and UIL and by the Swiss trade unions Ocst, Unia, Sgb Uss and Syna. Cross-border workers from all the Italian territories bordering the Confederation are expected in Como. Overall, there are more than 90 thousand Italian cross-border workers in Switzerland, almost 80 thousand employed in Ticino and the others in Grisons and Valais.
The health tax is applied to old cross-border workers, those who started working across the border before the new tax agreement came into force, i.e. the vast majority of the total. «Our requests for the removal of an unfair and untimely measure, as well as probably illegitimate, were of no avail – the trade union organizations denounce -. The tax is in open conflict with the contents of the newly created tax agreement and introduces an illicit double taxation mechanism, contrary to the model adopted by OECD countries. Also for this reason the demonstration will see the presence of the Swiss trade union which perceives itself as the injured party.” Also under scrutiny are the uncertainties regarding the definition of the lists of border municipalities within the 20 kilometer range. Among the requests, the reopening of negotiations on teleworking for cross-border workers and the convening of the round table provided for by the law on the new tax agreement. Finally, pay attention to the issue of salary. «The median salary of cross-border workers in Ticino is 20% less than that of residents, while in the rest of Switzerland these differences are not recorded. We want to highlight the real causes of wage dumping. Cross-border workers are not the cause, but rather the victims, together with resident workers.”
