SNL: 5 jobs at risk, FART guarantees requested

Context

In brief

• Shareholders' Meeting in Locarno on 29 September 2026
• Five employees faced with two hypotheses at work
• Guarantees and orderly transition to FART requested
• SEV, UNIA and OCST support staff

Key Facts

• Date → September 29, 2026
• Location → Locarno
• Staff involved → five employees
• Measures envisaged → consensual termination or transition from fixed to seasonal
• Trade unions → SEV, UNIA and OCST

On September 29, 2026, in Locarno, SNL staff active in the Swiss basin of Lake Maggiore discussed the future of shipping and employment. The assembly, in the presence of the SEV, UNIA and OCST unions, approved a resolution with no votes against and five abstentions.

The document focuses on three demands: employment guarantees, good working conditions and protection of rights during the transition. The workers also demand that the transfer of navigation to the FART take place in an orderly manner and that the personnel active in the Swiss basin be taken over by the FART.

The discussion came after the measures proposed by SNL, on Monday 28 September, to five employees. The alternatives indicated were the consensual termination of the employment relationship or the transition from a permanent to a seasonal job. The staff considered them unacceptable and linked them to the Canton's decision to no longer entrust SNL with the Locarno-Magadino public service section.

During the meeting, the President of the Council of State Marina Carobbio Guscetti and the Cantonal Delegate for External Relations Francesco Quattrini spoke. They illustrated the Canton's position on the future management of navigation and answered questions from employees. The resolution refers to the navigation project on Lake Maggiore with effect from 14 December 2026.

The position of the staff

"It's time to direct the bow towards the FART and head straight for a safer and more stable port."

The phrase summarizes the direction chosen by the assembly. The management and the Board of Directors of SNL are asked to act responsibly and to collaborate concretely to accompany the passage of all navigation on Lake Maggiore and the personnel employed.

The Canton is assigned, in the requests of employees, an intermediary role so that the staff active on Lake Verbano is taken over by the FART. The resolution also calls for stopping all forms of pressure on staff and ensuring continuity of work until the changeover, so as to avoid wage gaps. Finally, SEV, UNIA and OCST have assured their support to the workers during this phase.

Operational details

For the cross-border commuter, what can be read in the source

For a cross-border worker who is among the employees concerned, the news has a precise perimeter: the text speaks of the SNL staff active in the Swiss basin, but does not indicate how many workers are cross-border workers or where they reside. It therefore does not allow the story to be attributed an already defined effect on permits, taxation or social security.

The operational datum is the uncertainty about the employment relationship. One of the hypotheses proposed terminates the relationship by consensus; the other transforms permanent employment into seasonal employment. The resolution, on the other hand, calls for continuity of work until the transition to FART and the absence of wage gaps. These are requests from the assembly, not a guarantee already described as acquired. The source does not report the withdrawal of the measures, the acceptance of the transition by the FART or individual agreements.

What remains to be defined

Institutional roles must also be kept distinct. SNL and its Board of Directors are the recipients of the request for responsibility and collaboration. The Canton is asked to act as an intermediary. The FART are indicated as the landing place of the transition and as the new employer with whom the unions should negotiate future conditions. However, the text does not establish who must formalize each step, with what economic conditions or according to what operational calendar.

On the cross-border level, the resolution does not address the G permit, the AHV, the BVG, the KVG, rebates, withholding tax or double taxation. It does not even go into the merits of a payslip, a change of residence or an administrative procedure. For a cross-border commuter, this absence is an information limitation: the news concerns the continuity of work and the transition between employers, it does not certify tax or social security changes.

Those looking for an alternative employment cannot obtain an open position at SNL or FART from the source. However, they can separate the two levels: follow the evolution of the transition and, if necessary, consult the annunci di lavoros, without submitting them as part of the resolution.

Recommended tools

For an updated estimate, use the net salary calculator and the CHF-EUR exchange comparator.

Key points

The steps indicated by the resolution

For those who have to orient themselves in the announced phase, the text of the meeting allows you to build a practical sequence without adding deadlines or procedures that the source does not indicate. The starting point is to distinguish employees' requests from decisions that have already been formalized: the resolution asks for guarantees, but does not describe a concluded agreement.

An essential checklist

1. Check if your position is among the five collaborators who, on 28 September, were offered consensual termination or transformation from permanent to seasonal. These are the two measures mentioned in the document and must be kept separate. 2. Bring to the SNL management and its Board of Directors the requests indicated by the assembly: withdrawal of the measures, no pressure on staff and continuity of work until the transition to FART, so as to avoid wage gaps. 3. Take as a reference the date of 14 December 2026, indicated in the resolution for the navigation project on Lake Maggiore. The document asks the Canton to act as an intermediary for the personnel employed on Lake Verbano. 4. Involve SEV, UNIA and OCST in the negotiation phase. The trade unions are asked to enter into negotiations with FART, indicated as the new employer, for conditions in harmony with the other shipping companies in Switzerland. 5. Separate the SNL-FART path from the search for other opportunities. For the latter need, the aziende che assumono can be consulted, without attributing unmentioned offers or hires to the source.

The source does not list forms, offices, documents to be submitted or deadlines other than 14 December 2026. For this reason, the verifiable procedure remains the one contained in the resolution: clarify one's position, maintain the discussion with SNL, follow the role of the canton and entrust the negotiations on future conditions to the unions. A final outcome for the five employees is not indicated.

To complete the income check after a possible job change, use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: tio.ch