On Thursday evening, Vaud civil servants voted almost unanimously in favour of a new resolution calling for the continuation of the movement, mobilisation and strike action from Friday and next week.

The resolution speaks of an“endless strike”. The unions are calling for a special day of strikes on Tuesday, punctuated by another“major demonstration” in the form of a procession through the streets of Lausanne. A further meeting will decide on the continuation of the strike next Wednesday. Finally, the text also urges the members of the Vaud parliament to reject the proposed 2026 budget and the related decrees“which do not respect the trade union demands”.

Under the slogan“Against austerity, we won't give up”, the unions had called on all civil servants to go on a“total strike” to protest against the government's budget cuts. Many workplaces had decided to strike, notably schools and universities, as well as health and social services.

“It's hard to say whether the number of strikers has increased, but this is already the fourth day of the strike and the mobilisation remains very strong,” said Cora Antonioli, president of the SSP-Vaud union, which is organising the mobilisation with the SUD and FSF unions, told Keystone-ATS.“However, we can see that the number of places mobilised is expanding to include new sectors on strike”.

On Thursday, strike action was again most widespread in schools. The Vaud Department of Education and Vocational Training (DEF) observed“strong mobilisation in the canton's various educational establishments”.“In compulsory education, it is estimated that more than a third of Vaud state employees went on strike today,” it said.

“Situations can vary greatly from one establishment to another. In some establishments or sites, no classes were taught as usual, while in other places or schools, the day proceeded normally or almost normally,” it said.

This content was published on Mar 16, 2017 No one downs tools less often than workers in Switzerland and Austria, according to an international comparison of strikes.