European Federation of Journalists

Journalists at Swiss news agency strike against job cuts


The European Federation of Journalist’s (EFJ) Swiss affiliates, Impressum and Syndicom, have called for support for the workers from Swiss news agency SDA-ATS, who have been on strike since 29 January 2018. The EFJ expresses its solidarity with workers affected by the SDA-ATS job cuts.

The news agency began their strike at 2pm on Tuesday afternoon, which has continued past its scheduled time of 2-5pm on 29 January and is still ongoing.

The workers are striking after the agency announced on 9 January 2018 that up to 40 out of their 180 total employees are at risk of losing their jobs, due to a pressure on the agency to lower prices. SDA-ATS is the only news agency in Switzerland.

Syndicom, the Trade Union of Media and Communications in Switzerland, issued a press release on 30 January stating that the strike continued because the SDA-ATS Board made no concrete offer for discussion.

According to the press, the board of directors of the news agency is trying to set up a discussion session, which is welcomed by workers, but they remain determined to strike until concrete progress is made.

On the same day, Swiss journalists’ association Impressum made an urgent call for solidarity for the SDA-ATS strikers. Impressum has opened its Solidarity Fund for donations, as workers will not be paid while on strike.

Impressum statement and donation information

Syndicom press release

Photo credit: SDA-ATS