Thousands protest planned public-service cuts in Lausanne

Several thousand people marched through Lausanne on Thursday evening, taking their protest against planned public-service cuts from the city centre to Place du Château, where Vaud’s cantonal government is based. Their demonstration came a month before parliament begins debating the canton's 2027 budget.

The crowd chanted “Tax the rich” and called for more money for public services. Three public-sector unions are urging the government to withdraw its savings plan and rely more heavily on financial reserves to protect services.

The protest brings the budget dispute into the streets just as elected representatives prepare to examine the 2027 figures. The planned reductions would affect every department, putting public services across the canton at the centre of the debate. For Vaud, the discussion now has to account for two demands: preserving services and meeting voters’ call for tax relief.

Attendance estimates ranged from 6,000 to more than 15,000. Police and news agency Keystone-ATS put the crowd between 6,000 and 8,000, while organisers claimed more than 15,000 people took part.

The march crossed Lausanne’s city centre before reaching Place du Château. Protesters called for increased funding for public services and chanted “Tax the rich”, putting the unions’ demand for a different budget approach into a public demonstration.

The three public-sector unions want the government to withdraw its planned savings and use more of Vaud’s reserves to preserve services. Their position sets up a direct contest over how the canton should absorb the financial pressure created by lower tax revenue. The estimates also show how sharply accounts of the march’s size differed, even as both placed thousands of people on the streets ahead of the budget debate.

Vaud voters backed a 12% reduction in cantonal income and wealth taxes, leaving the government with an estimated CHF 272 million annual revenue shortfall. In September 2026, 53% supported the tax cut, which the report says was backed by 122,000 taxpayers.

The government’s proposed response includes CHF 100 million in spending savings. Half would come from government operations and half from subsidies. The cuts would affect every department. The plan also counts on CHF 63 million in additional revenue from the Swiss National Bank and CHF 109 million drawn from financial reserves.

Those figures frame the budget choices facing Vaud’s parliament. The unions want the government to draw more heavily on reserves to protect services. The government’s approach combines savings with additional revenue and a reserve contribution, while voters have endorsed lower taxes. Using reserves to cover the gap without significant additional revenue would be unsustainable in the long term, according to the report.

The dispute pits pressure to protect public services against a tax cut approved by 53% of voters. Vaud’s government is preparing for parliament’s 2027 budget debate with unions calling for the planned savings to be withdrawn and reserves used more extensively.

Public-sector salaries are protected under the government’s plan. Staff are due a 1.5% inflation adjustment in January 2027, as well as annual increments for eligible employees. That provision sits alongside cuts planned across every department, making the budget’s effects a matter of both service funding and public-sector pay.

The report describes the political bind in terms of the competing demands of 15,000 protesters and 122,000 taxpayers who voted for tax relief. Parliament’s debate begins in about a month. Its decisions will shape how Vaud balances the revenue shortfall, spending reductions, expected Swiss National Bank income and use of reserves in the coming budget.