Fribourg media staff protest planned layoffs at La Liberté

Employees at St-Paul Médias, the publisher of the Swiss daily newspaper La Liberté, are mobilizing against planned layoffs that threaten 18 jobs. The company initiated a collective dismissal procedure on June 18 as part of a restructuring plan.

The staff delegation, armed with financial data, is opposing the group's overall strategy and contesting the dismissals, according to statements from the Syndicom and Impressum unions. They argue that the scale of the proposed job cuts would "seriously harm" the quality of their titles and services.

This action follows a previous reduction in staff, with employee numbers already cut by 18% over the past three years. A staff assembly on Tuesday urged the company to abandon these further reductions. A demonstration was held Thursday at the group's headquarters in Fribourg, with staff demanding not only the preservation of jobs but also of "vibrant regional press in the canton and the Broye vaudoise."