Countries all over the world are doing their best to come with ideas that could help them combat the economic fallout the coronavirus pandemic has caused, but no one has come up with a strategic and effective plan.
Geneva, a Swiss City, has a plan and it looks like it will be effective.
Geneva suffered from a huge hit to tourism as a result of the coronavirus and they are now set to introduce a new minimum monthly wage of £3,500.
The £3,500 minimum wage will then become the highest minimum wage on the entire planet.
Local unions and leftwing parties in Geneva proposed the new minimum wage, which was passed by the 500,000 voters of the city.
It was done through a referendum that saw 58 percent of the 500,000 voters in favor of the new law.
A similar proposal was rejected in 2011 and 2014.
The shift in public opinion came after the financial crisis that is caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Around 30,000 low-paid workers will benefit from the new wage law, which sets the hourly rate at £19.50, almost twice as high as neighboring France.
The new rate will be in law on October 17, 2020. It will mark as a ‘movement of solidarity’ to help ‘restore a certain balance among the people of Greater Geneva.’
Michel Charrat, a member of the European Cross-Border Group, talked about the coronavirus pandemic.
He said:
Covid showed that a certain section of the Swiss population cannot live in Geneva. 4,000 Swiss francs a month (£3,362) is the minimum to stay above the poverty line.
Rent in Geneva costs more than 2,000 Swiss francs a month.
Alexander Eniline, from the Swiss Labour Party, released a statement ahead of the voting in the country.
Before the vote on September 27, 2020, Alexander said:
The introduction of a minimum wage is a fundamental requirement of justice, and an essential measure against precariousness.
Geneva is currently the third most expensive city to live in, in the entire world. Zurich and Ashgabat are the only ones that are ahead.