European Court of Human Rights rules against Switzerland over hospital strikes
Keystone-SDA
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled against Switzerland in connection with a strike at La Providence Hospital in Neuchâtel. The judges in Strasbourg found that there had been a violation of the freedoms of assembly and association.
Switzerland has breached Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR announced on Thursday. The case concerns 17 former employees of La Providence Hospital and four trade union secretaries.
In the court’s view, it was not sufficiently foreseeable to the strikers that their industrial action, which was initially lawful, might at some point be classified as unlawful.
By denying them protection against dismissal on this basis, the Swiss courts had infringed the very essence of their right to strike.
The Federal Supreme Court had previously ruled that the strike after January 23, 2013 was no longer justified as a last resort and was therefore disproportionate.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
