by Yannick Vanderborght | Mar 3, 2013 | News
[BIEN – March 2013]
Goodman, David, “Push is on for CHF2,500 ‘basic income’ (audio interview)” World Radio Switzerland, Monday, 21 January, 2013
A federal initiative was launched in Switzerland last April asking for an unconditional basic income guaranteed of 2,500 Francs a month for every resident, regardless of their nationality. Campaigners already have half the signatures for a ballot with 10 months of campaigning still left. And last week, a another citizen’s initiative was launched in the European Union, asking the European Commission to consider the a similar idea. Dave Goodman, of World Radio Switzerland, talks to Gabriel Barta, a member of the committee behind the Swiss Basic Income initiative.
The interview can be found at this link:
https://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/switzerland/push-is-on-for-chf2500-basic-income.shtml?34207
by Yannick Vanderborght | Jan 29, 2013 | News
A committee of citizens and BIEN-Switzerland are currently collecting signatures for a ‘popular initiative’, which if put to the vote and accepted by the electorate will introduce a basic income into the Swiss Constitution. 120,000 signatures will probably be needed so that the requirement of 100,000 validated ones is satisfied, and half way through the period allowed–which runs until October 2013–the committee has over 70,000. The prospects are therefore good that a binding popular vote on this subject will be held in three or four years. Even if the electorate does not accept it the first time, the chances of success on a subsequent occasion will be increased. The signature campaign has aroused a great deal of interest and discussion in broad areas of public life.
Further information: https://bien-ch.ch/
Official page from the Swiss government: https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/vi/vis423.html
by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 24, 2012 | News
This debate is organized by the left-wing monthly “Pages de gauche”, which has published a special issue on basic income in the Summer of 2012. Guest speakers include Bernard Friot (Université Paris X), Gabriel Barta (one of the proponents of a “popular initiative” in favour of basic income), Romain Felli (Pages de gauche) and Yannick Vanderborght (FUSL Brussels and Louvain University).
Details: 9PM, Casino de Montbenon, Salon bleu, Avenue Ernest-Ansermet, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Website: https://www.pagesdegauche.ch/
by Citizens' Income Trust | Oct 9, 2012 | News
On the 30th May 2012 the General Conference of the International Labour Organization reaffirmed that the right to social security is a human right and recommended that member countries should ‘establish and maintain … social protection floors … Schemes providing such benefits may include universal benefit schemes, social insurance schemes, social assistance schemes, negative income tax schemes, … .’
For more information see: www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_183326.pdf
by Karl Widerquist | Jun 14, 2012 | Research
This newspaper article reports on the Swiss effort to raise enough signatures to trigger a referendum on basic income. The effort is supported by high-level politicians as well as by BIEN-Switzerland. The movement needs 100,000 signatures to put the referendum on the ballot.
The article is online at:
https://www.thelocal.ch/national/20120412_3074
