by Yannick Vanderborght | Sep 25, 2013 | News
The 4th of October will be a major event for the international Basic Income community. The 116,000 signatures collected in Switzerland since April 2012 for the popular initiative for an unconditional basic income will be handed over to the Swiss parliament. Because of this initiative, within 4 years every Swiss citizen will know the idea of unconditional basic income (UBI) and have to vote on whether they want or not a basic income. It will be the first time in history that the people of a country will be asked to make this choice. Organizers of the Swiss Basic Income Initiative have requested supporters to gather in the Swiss capital of Bern for the handover.
Meeting point : Friday, 4th October, at 10am, Bundesplatz 3, in Bern. Signatures will be handed over to the Federal Chancellery at 11am. Then supporters will have a prepared lunch together and finally a party at 8pm in the “Turnhalle,” next to Bern station.
The Swiss initiative in details: The popular initiative for UBI was launched in 2012. It aims to have a new clause incorporated into the Swiss constitution that the Confederation “shall ensure the introduction of an unconditional basic income. The basic income shall enable the whole population to live in human dignity and participate in public life. The law shall particularly regulate the way in which the basic income is to be financed and the level at which it is set.”
For more information (in English) go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/557424807640024/
For information in French, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/407789052654692/
by Yannick Vanderborght | Sep 11, 2013 | News
The Swiss popular initiative for a basic income has officially collected 116,000 certified signatures. Those signatures were necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. The initiative will be officially submitted on October 4th, 2013, in Bern, and the referendum will be held within two years. As was mentioned in earlier posts on BINEWS, the proposal does not specify the amount of the basic income, but it would enshrine the principle in Switzerland’s constitution.
For further info on the submission, see: https://bien.ch/fr/page/actualites
by Karl Widerquist | Sep 8, 2013 | News
The Sixth International Week of the Basic Income will take place 16 to 22 September 2013. For its 6th edition, the week of basic income will focus on raising awareness on the European Citizens Initiative for an Unconditional Basic Income. Proponents of Unconditional Basic Income in 22 Member States of the European Union have joined their forces to make this week of basic income a major event.
Web sites organizing a Week of the Basic Income are:
Germany, Switzerland, Austria (German language)
www.woche-des-grundeinkommens.eu
Netherlands, Belgium (Dutch language)
week-van-het-basisinkomen.nl
France, Belgium, Switzerland (French):
semaine.revenudebase.info
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 6, 2013 | News
A Swiss petition drive has collected more than the 100,000 signatures necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. If the government certifies 100,000 of the signatures as valid, a referendum will be held within two years. The proposal does not specify the amount of the basic income, but it would enshrine the principle in Switzerland’s constitution. The proposal is controversial. Even some unions and left organizations have dismissed basic income as a “bonus for laziness.” This proposal is one of several petition drives for basic income in Europe this year, some have been waged nationally and some at level of the European Union as a whole.
For more information see:
Jourdan, Stanislas, “Will the basic income revolution come from Switzerland?” Boiling Frogs, Alternatives, June 3, 2013
Vogele, Wolfgang G., “Swiss parliament may soon debate unconditional basic income,” NNA: News with a difference, 30 Apr 2013
Geiser, Urs “Basic income for all. Old utopian revived on Swiss streets,” swissinfo.ch, June 13, 2013
The Swiss initiative in print
by Karl Widerquist | Jul 20, 2013 | Research
[Wolfgang Müller – BI New]
A campaign for an unconditional basic income in Switzerland claims to have achieved the required signatures for a nationwide vote. This article illustrates the work of the campaigners and their experiences along with some of the controversy about the issue in Switzerland.
Geiser, Urs “Basic income for all. Old utopian revived on Swiss streets,” swissinfo.ch, June 13, 2013
The committee presenting its initiative to the public in April 2012
