Independent trade unions have called for a salary increase of up to three per cent next year to offset a loss in actual earning.

Travail Suisse, an umbrella organisation with about 170,000 members in various sectors of industry, said it was unfair to let only managers benefit from the economic growth.

The group said employees deserved higher wages as working conditions had become tougher and productivity had been increasing.

An expected increase in salary deductions for social security insurances and in value added tax would slow consumer spending, Travail Suisse warned.

The organisation is aiming for compensation for 1.1 per cent inflation and salary increases ranging from 0.5 per cent for railway workers to up to three per cent in the construction industry.

The main Trade Union Federation is to present its demands later in the year.

In response to the union's press conference on Monday a senior member of the employers' organisation was quoted as saying there was no need to increase salaries as wages rose 2.6 per cent in 2009.

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