Hot Swiss SVP MP: "The Germans take ouuuurrr jobs !"

[Tender Branson]

Germans ‘stealing our jobs’: Swiss politician

A right-wing Swiss politician left her audience gobsmacked when she denounced German immigrants who were coming to Switzerland and “stealing our jobs”.



Natalie Rickli is a member of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the biggest party in the country, notorious for its anti-immigration campaigns generally directed against Muslims and people of non-white or non-European heritage.

“Honestly, people are getting worried because there are too many Germans living in Switzerland,” she said while taking part in Sunday’s SonnTalk political talk show on the Telezüri channel.

Wednesday’s Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper said she talked of a flood of Germans coming over the border and putting pressure on the job and housing markets. She claimed she had received countless letters from Swiss people who had lost their jobs to young Germans.

“There are many, many Swiss who think like this,” she told the host, but could not give any examples, instead referred to the ‘young Germans’ who were allegedly snapping up jobs.

Other guests on the talk show were shocked by Rickli’s claim, including the head of the Green Liberal Party Martin Bäumle who told Rickli that the idea of preventing Germans from entering Switzerland was “obscene” as the majority of them were doing “a super job.”

The Swiss government just passed a law limiting how many Eastern European immigrants would be granted a work permit this year. The limit applies to eight countries including Poland and Hungary.

The reform has been under discussion for some years in Switzerland and was touched on by Rickli on the television show. She told the host that she wished the law had been passed in 2009, when there was a chance of it including Germany.

http://www.thelocal.de/money/20120426-42177.html

...

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154528/the-oreilly-factor

[Tender Branson]

Isn't Rickli ZuWo's MP ?

[Tender Branson]

There's also a poll about it:

"Do you think there are already too many Germans in Switzerland ?"



11% Far too many
25% Too many
58% Just about right
  1% Too few
  5% Undecided

40% of women and 32% of men say there are too many Germans in Switzerland. In small towns, 45% say so.

"Do you think German immigration to Switzerland should be limited ?"



37% Yes
59% No

42% of women and 33% of men want immigration curbs on Germans.

http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/das-denken-die-schweizer-wirklich-ueber-die-zuwanderung-aus-deutschland-id1862893.html

[Leftbehind]

Anyone else reminded of the journalist off Borgen?

[ZuWo]

Isn't Rickli ZuWo's MP ?

One of 34 MPs; 11 are SVP members, 7 belong to the SPS, 4 to the FDP/Liberals, 4 to the GLP, 3 are members of the Greens, 2 of the BDP, 2 of the CVP and 1 of the EVP, to be precise.

[Californian Tony]

Anyone else reminded of the journalist off Borgen?

Rickli is hotter than her, and that's not to say she's particularly hot.

[politicus]

Anyone else reminded of the journalist off Borgen?

Rickli is hotter than her, and that's not to say she's particularly hot.

Are you talking about the role played by Birgitte Hjorth Sørensen from the Danish TV-serie "Borgen"?
They don't look much alike.

[London Man]

Anyone else reminded of the journalist off Borgen?

Rickli is hotter than her, and that's not to say she's particularly hot.

Are you talking about the role played by Birgitte Hjorth Sørensen from the Danish TV-serie "Borgen"?
They don't look much alike.

No, they don't, apart from being blonde.

[ingemann]

I love the Swiss, they are just so reactionary that it's funny. In what other multiethnic state can you hear a xenophobic party, yell about the immigration of people belonging to the same ethnic and linguistic group as their voters mosly belong to, and reach across to the other ethnic groups in their shared dislike of anybody living outside the country's border? They barely care to translate their party name and slogans into the French and still make a descend showing among the French speakers.

[Hans-im-Glück]

A Swiss hospital without German doctors were not able to work. But she must not be treated by a German. I'm sure there gives doctors from Turkey, Portugal, Italy or France too

[Leftbehind]

Anyone else reminded of the journalist off Borgen?

Rickli is hotter than her, and that's not to say she's particularly hot.

Are you talking about the role played by Birgitte Hjorth Sørensen from the Danish TV-serie "Borgen"?
They don't look much alike.

No, they don't, apart from being blonde.

The smile and the studio-like background, too; if you squint you could mistake the two... Okay, maybe it's just me who's reminded of her (not that I think they're the spit of each other!), then.

[Tender Branson]

Rickli wiederum wollte diese Beschwerde nicht auf sich sitzen lassen. Sie sagte dem Portal "Südostschweiz", die Branchenchefs machten es sich ein bisschen einfach. "Einerseits verlangen sie vom Staat immer mehr Subventionen, andererseits wollen sie aber in ganz Europa möglichst günstige Arbeitskräfte rekrutieren können." Das führe dazu, dass in den Feriengebieten fast nur noch Deutsche arbeiten würden.

Ganz anders sei das etwa in Österreich, so Rickli. "Dort wird man vorwiegend von Einheimischen bedient, das trägt zum Charme des Landes bei."

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,830501,00.html

"The situation is totally different for example in Austria, says Rickli. "There [when you go out to eat/drink something] you are served overwhelmingly by natives, which contributes to the congeniality of the country."

...

Interesting how the Swiss Far-Right uses Austria as a role model, while the Far-Right and almost anyone else here points to Switzerland as a role model ...

Besides, Rickli's comments about Austria and its "native" waiters/waitresses is not true. It's the same like in Switzerland, there are mostly East Germans or Eastern Europeans in the ski area restaurants. It's only true for regular restaurants, where mostly natives are emloyed as waiters/waitresses.

[hawkeye59]

DEY TUK ER JERBS

[a Person]

There's also a poll about it:
[...]

Who are the 1% of Austrians that think there is not too much German immigration but want to limit it anyway?

[Tender Branson]

There's also a poll about it:
[...]

Who are the 1% of Austrians that think there is not too much German immigration but want to limit it anyway?

This is a poll of Swiss people, not Austrians.

I think not more than 5% of Austrians would say that there are too many Germans here, contrary to about 40% in Switzerland.

[crypto-fascist superhero]

What percentage of Germans think there are two many Germans in Germany?

(And which Euro country would have the highest percentage saying there are too many Germans?  Poland?  Greece?)

[Tender Branson]

What percentage of Germans think there are two many Germans in Germany?

(And which Euro country would have the highest percentage saying there are too many Germans?  Poland?  Greece?)

A) A certain amount of radical Green voters I would say, who favor the replacement of the German people with immigrants. So, maybe 1 or 2%.

B) Yeah, probably a tie between Greece and Poland. Maybe the Ukraine too, with the upcoming German-led boycott of the EURO 2012, because of the horrible prison treatment of Julia Timoschenko. So, the Yanukovic-voting people might start to hate the Germans too in solidarity with their semi-autocratic leader.

[danny]

A) A certain amount of radical Green voters I would say, who favor the replacement of the German people with immigrants. So, maybe 1 or 2%.

Wouldn't radical greens want to have less German people and replace them with nobody so that there are less people of any kind? That is how I imagine radical greens thinking.

[Tender Branson]

A) A certain amount of radical Green voters I would say, who favor the replacement of the German people with immigrants. So, maybe 1 or 2%.

Wouldn't radical greens want to have less German people and replace them with nobody so that there are less people of any kind? That is how I imagine radical greens thinking.

Yeah, that's likely true as well (I belong to that group of Greens, but not because I want the Germans to die out, but rather that 99.9% of humanity leaves the planet for good, with the rest who remain employing a rigorous population control policy).

But there are other Greens, who favor a less homogenous society and mix it with immigrants.

[Vasall des Midas]

I love the Swiss, they are just so reactionary that it's funny.

Almost sigworthy.

[a Person]

There's also a poll about it:
[...]

Who are the 1% of Austrians that think there is not too much German immigration but want to limit it anyway?

This is a poll of Swiss people, not Austrians.

I think not more than 5% of Austrians would say that there are too many Germans here, contrary to about 40% in Switzerland.

*derp*
That's what I meant. It shows 36% of Swiss thinking there is too much German immigration but 37% wanting to limit it.

[ZuWo]

Such skepticism towards German immigration as uttered by National Councillor Rickli is mostly a phenomenon that occurs in and around the city of Zurich. In the recent years, the number of Germans in Zurich has nearly tripled - Germans now account for 8% of the population of the city of Zurich. While immigration from Germany can primarily be considered positive since the Germans who come to Zurich tend to be well-educated, work in sectors where there aren't enough Swiss employees and are eager to adapt to the Swiss way of life, there are also some downsides to this development.
Firstly, there are a couple of "hard" facts which are responsible for the feelings towards German immigration Mrs Rickli expressed. Indeed, the considerable increase in the city's population has, for instance, led to higher rents, crammed trains and crowded lecture halls at the university. These are the most tangible effects of immigration to Zurich, and since the Germans are the largest group of immigrants and their number has increased so rapidly in the last 10 years the role they play is subject to numerous public debates.
Additionally, there are very subjective - or "soft" - reasons for skepticism towards Germans. Despite the many similarities between the German-speaking Swiss and the Germans, there are Swiss people who think Germans are too bold, too direct and rude, which can be exemplified by the following stereotypical situation:

A German client enters a Swiss bakery and addresses the sales assistant by saying "Ich krieg ein Brötchen!" ("I'll get a bread roll!") instead of saying or asking "Ich hätte gern ein Brötchen" ("I'd like to have a bread roll") or "Könnte ich bitte ein Brötchen haben?" ("Could I have a bread roll, please?"). I actually don't know how frequent such a situation is, but it shows that the are very delicate cultural traps and different conversational conventions which can be a potential field of conflict. Of course, both the Germans and the Swiss have to be ready to understand these differences in order to avoid any discord in the future.

[Tender Branson]

Why exactly is there a particular focus on German immigrants anyway ?

There are now 290.000 Germans in Switzerland, which is far less than for example in 1910 when 220.000 Germans lived in Switzerland out of a total population of 3.7 Mio. and they account for only 4% of the population.

But there are also 300.000 Italians and 250.000 Portuguese living in Switzerland, are they taking the jobs of the Swiss too ? You don't hear any complaints from the SVP people about the Italians and the Portuguese about that.

[Vasall des Midas]

But there are also 300.000 Italians and 250.000 Portuguese living in Switzerland, are they taking the jobs of the Swiss too ? You don't hear any complaints from the SVP people about the Italians and the Portuguese about that.

No. They only take jobs that the Swiss don't want and that need to be done.

Neither of which applies to doctors and waitresses.

[ZuWo]

Why exactly is there a particular focus on German immigrants anyway ?

There are now 290.000 Germans in Switzerland, which is far less than for example in 1910 when 220.000 Germans lived in Switzerland out of a total population of 3.7 Mio. and they account for only 4% of the population.

But there are also 300.000 Italians and 250.000 Portuguese living in Switzerland, are they taking the jobs of the Swiss too ? You don't hear any complaints from the SVP people about the Italians and the Portuguese about that.

As I said, skepticism towards German immigrants is mainly a phenomenon of the German-speaking urban centers (mostly in and around Zurich) because most Germans who have immigrated to Switzerland in the recent years live in and around Zurich.

And the reason why no one talks about the Italians and the Portuguese who live in Switzerland is the fact that the overwhelming number of Italians and Portuguese who live in Switzerland came here many decades ago. Switzerland had its debate on immigration from Italy, Spain and Portugal a long time ago - most Italians who live here today are Italians of the 3rd or even 4th generation and many of them are hardly distinguishable from Swiss people.

Also, the jobs most Italian and Portuguese immigrants used to have jobs of a lower social status that the Swiss didn't really want to do, while in the eyes of some Swiss people the Germans are competitors for the "good" jobs and, therefore, rivals.