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Anja Niedringhaus/AP/Press Association Images

Swiss to decide if their minimum wage should be €18

Before you read on, bear in mind that Geneva tops the world’s Club Sandwich Index.

SWITZERLAND WILL HOLD a referendum today on whether its minimum wage should be increased to €18 (22 Swiss francs) an hour, making it the world’s highest pay requirement.

Recent opinion polls suggest voters will reject the proposals which have been supported by unions and left wing parties.

They believe 4,000 francs (€3,280) is required to live in the country, renowned for having a high cost of living.

Just last week, Geneva topped the world’s Club Sandwich Index - data collected with an aim to give tourists an idea of how expensive a destination is. On average, the multi-layer sandwich costs €23.78.

Despite the high cost of living, the latest poll indicated that 64 per cent will say ‘no’ to what has been dubbed the ‘Decent Salary’ at the ballot box.

The business community believe increasing the minimum wage will act as a barrier for young people to enter employment. It could also prove fatal for some businesses, they say.

There will also be a vote today on whether the country should spend billions of euro on Swedish fighter jets, as well as on measures to ban paedophiles from working with children.

Switzerland holds referenda every three months as part of its direct democratic system.

Minimum Wages Across the World: 

  • Ireland: €8.65
  • Germany: €8 (to be introduced in 2015)
  • Spain: €5.05
  • USA: $7.25
  • Australia: $10.63

Read: Where does Ireland sit on the international Club Sandwich Index?

Opinion: We want to see an increase in wages – and respect – for fast food workers

More: “This will cause problems” – EU warns Switzerland after immigration result

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38 Comments
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    Mute Just Some Guy
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:11 PM

    No Saudi Arabia? Interesting

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:15 PM

    @Just Some Guy: If you ever watched Michael Moores’ documentary on 9/11 , you’ll know why .

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    Mute Fintan O'flaois
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:25 PM

    @Just Some Guy: Saudi Arabia share intelligence with the US and have extensive anti terror policies. The listed countries are either hostile to the US, are failed states or have an uncontrolled internal security situation. KSA doesn’t fall into that category.

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    Mute Joe Caulfield
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:31 PM

    @Just Some Guy: Saudi Arabia can provode a certain level of vetting and pre clearance. The countries on the list can not.

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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:33 PM

    @Just Some Guy: weren’t some of the 911 suicide bombers from Saudi Arabia?

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    Mute Dj
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:48 PM

    @Ken Hayden: Is that the one where he eats McDonald’s for a month?

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:52 PM

    @Gus Sheridan: Suicide bombers , a term that has come into our vocabulary in the last 20 years , but none of the 19 attackers on 9/11 were bombers , that all came later .

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:01 PM

    @Dj: No , he’s obviously still working on that documentary . It’s the one where Steve Martin has to drive him home for Christmas , because everybody else has no room at the inn .
    I might be getting confused here .

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    Mute Dj
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:26 PM

    @Ken Hayden: Is that the one where they drove home on a Bobsleigh?

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:35 PM

    @Dj: Yes , and they ended up invading Canada , because they were cheated out of an Olympic medal by racist Canadians who ate Bacon .

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    Mute Dj
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:45 PM

    @Ken Hayden: Haha

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    Mute Peter McGlynn
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    Dec 5th 2017, 7:16 AM

    @Gus Sheridan: most of them were so the Saudi’s can’t be relied upon for weeding them out. The US government don’t care as long as the victims of terrorism are not related to them.

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    Mute The Lad
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    Dec 5th 2017, 8:12 AM

    @Joe Caulfield: would you mind putting up your sources for that

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    Mute The Lad
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    Dec 5th 2017, 9:05 AM

    @Fintan O’flaois: still copying other peoples profiles..sad

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    Mute Denis Mc Kenna
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:29 PM

    When are we going to introduce border controls here or is already to late..

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    Mute Jim Newfer
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:52 PM

    @Denis Mc Kenna: Yes, the tiny handful of terrorists who carried out attacks on Europe over the last 5 years (i.e. you are more likely to be struck by lighting than killed by a terrorist in Europe) means that we should throw out a century of European culture and tradition of openness…

    ….don’t worry about the fact that this closing of Europe is openly what ISIS say they want to happen, that’s probably just a coincidence…

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    Mute Denis Mc Kenna
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:05 PM

    @Jim Newfer: Tell that to the parents of the children murdered by Muslim religious nutters.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:16 PM

    @Jim Newfer: Where did you learn history , I have seen pictures of German soldiers pulling down border posts , but that was in 1939 , Poland .
    We have had borders since historical times , only in the last 20 odd years was the idea of a borderless European zone pushed . But Merkel screwed that up by unilaterally calling for all the migrants to be allowed in without checking their background .

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    Mute Remy
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    Dec 5th 2017, 11:38 AM

    @Jim Newfer:

    As you can see today in western European cities, you’ll notice that Christmas markets etc are cordoned off with concrete barriers, entrances fitted with metal detectors and sniffer dogs, also the military that should have been used to patrol and protect the borders are now plain to see at the Christmas markets and popular tourist spots..this is what Islamic supremacists such as ISIS, Al Queda etc want, now go to Eastern Europe, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia etc and the security is not so visible…join the dots and ask yourself why.

    Also those tiny amount of Islamic terrorists would have needed a support network, funding, safe houses, weaponry and last but not least their ideological reason for killing the Infidel…where does that come from Jim??

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    Mute John Rag Scales
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:30 PM

    Good man the donald,do what needs to be done for your country.and bin them green cards and any illegal workers send them back to their own countries.i cant wait to see fg(westbrits)ff(church gillys) faces when thousands land back here lol.how dya like them apples leo pmsl

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    Mute The Dude
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:31 PM

    Go on the Don

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:04 PM

    Good for them! I’m sure that now they are going to stop shooting at each other and there will no gun problems.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:34 PM

    @María Eugenia Baiardi: Well there’ll be less islamist gun problems now , or car problems for that matter .

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:52 PM

    @Ken Hayden: lol. Seriously?

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:25 PM

    @María Eugenia Baiardi: I would hope so anyway .

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:30 PM

    @Ken Hayden: stupid simplistic reaction to a very complex problem. Terrorism isn’t going to stop because of a travel ban.
    If it was that easy, there won’t be any freedom of movement anywhere by now.
    Scapegoating that’s all it is.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:39 PM

    @María Eugenia Baiardi: Who are they scapegoating ?

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 5th 2017, 8:16 AM

    @Ken Hayden: do I need to spell it out or sound it out? Try Mmmmmmmmm, starts with M.

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    Mute Tom Doyle
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    Dec 5th 2017, 10:17 AM

    @Ken Hayden:”Well there’ll be less islamist gun problems now , or car problems for that matter .” You talking through your arse,Ken ? Go on,admit it that you are ..Show me the numbers of car problems ,or gun massacres that an Iranian has carried out on US soil.. there must be loads of them for you to choose from, as there is plenty of them living and working in America..

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    Mute ⚡️Gerard Delaney⚡️
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    Dec 5th 2017, 12:36 AM

    As long as Ireland is in Europe we will allow more and more refugees into our country. That’s all fine till attacks start here. And I can tell anyone if they have family or kids killed by Muslim terrorist attacks they wouldn’t be long changing their mind about what Trump is doing. I’m not saying I think America isn’t the problem cause a lot of it is but changes into who is brought into a country, what their background is needs to be dealt with. And more importantly you come to live in western society you abide by Western society rules. One strike and u go home. How many terrorist reports come out suspect was known to have terrorist links? Yet allowed to freely walk around

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    Mute Denis Mc Kenna
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    Dec 4th 2017, 11:50 PM

    Can people be seriously suggesting that Europe and America have an open door policy and let everybody in especially those coming from societies whose values and beliefs are still influenced by some superstitious medieval religious nonsense.Ireland is still recovering from the last religious nonsense which originated in the middle east and controlled this society for centuries until it was discovered that their ” holy men” were buggering children and covering it up.Now some deluded liberals want to let in an even worse bunch of head bangers and psychotics from the same part of the world.No thanks.

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 5th 2017, 8:18 AM

    @Denis Mc Kenna: actually that’s not the suggestion. Try again.

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    Mute Grumpy Bollovks
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:01 PM

    Trumps burning of the Reichstag

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    Mute Marcus Massey
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    Dec 4th 2017, 10:12 PM

    @Grumpy Bollovks: Excellent analogy.

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    Mute María Eugenia Baiardi
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    Dec 5th 2017, 11:28 AM

    Heart-warming! They are also drawing up legislation to ban lightning strikes and lethal panda bear attacks.

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