The solidarity rally was called by various trade unions in the country.
Keystone-SDA
Around 1,000 people demonstrated in front of the Stahl Gerlafingen steel plant on Saturday to demand the survival of the steelworks. They called on politicians to take immediate measures to save the site and on the company to refrain from resorting to redundancies.
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The demonstrators also demanded that the production of recycled steel in Gerlafingen be secured.
The solidarity rally was called by the trade unions Unia, Syna, the Swiss commercial association and Employees Switzerland. Several speakers called for the steelworks to be preserved. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin must take action, said Pirmin Bischof, a federal parliamentarian, and Franziska Roth, a senator from canton Solothurn, where the steelworks is located.
+ Swiss steel workers hold demonstration to save their plant
“We are Stahl Gerlafingen,” read the banners held up by demonstrators. Pierre-Yves Maillard, the president of the Swiss federation of trade unions and a senator from Vaud, said: “You can no longer build without steel. Switzerland needs a strong industry, and Switzerland needs the Gerlafingen steelworks.”
The steelworks is the largest recycling plant in Switzerland.
Translated from German with DeepL/gw
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