The ongoing social dialogue between the Government and workers’ and employers’ unions on Social Security and pensions has reached a technical framework, but significant differences remain that prevent an imminent agreement. The only modification agreed upon so far is the recovery of multiplier coefficients for permanent workers who were discontinued, which increases their contribution period. However, other contentious issues such as reducing coefficients for anticipated retirement age in certain occupations and access to partial retirement remain unresolved.
During a meeting held this Monday, the Secretary of Institutional Policy of UGT acknowledged that while no agreements have been reached yet, improvements have been made to various texts in the negotiation process. The Ministry of Social Security emphasized the constructive spirit of the meeting and its role in bringing positions closer together. All parties have scheduled another meeting in three weeks to continue discussions.
At the meeting, the impact of aging on the population was analyzed, with a focus on the European Commission’s Ageing Report. The unions highlighted the need for long-term reviews and evaluations without relying on short-term measures. They are calling for an extension of partial retirement to all sectors and improvement in employment quality for relief workers.
The definition of which professions qualify as painful, toxic, dangerous or unhealthy remains a major concern due to lack of specificity. There are concerns about gender impact and exclusion of certain professions from these definitions. Additionally, differing viewpoints between unions and government persist regarding access to partial retirement reforms – rights and eligibility criteria are at odds with each other.
The negotiation process continues with several technical issues still to be resolved before an agreement can be reached. The next meeting will primarily focus on discussing reform proposals addressing core issues like defining access to partial retirement criteria and identifying hazardous working conditions’ professions.
Long-term evaluations will continue playing a crucial role in shaping pension reform agreements as parties work towards finding common ground amidst these challenges.
In summary, while progress has been made in some areas during recent talks between government representatives, worker unions, and employers’ associations regarding social security reforms related to pensions; significant differences remain preventing immediate agreement. These include disputes over specific criteria defining hazardous working conditions’ professions and varying viewpoints on rights/eligibility criteria for partial retirement access reforms among others. Negotiations are ongoing with numerous technical issues left to resolve before an accord can be reached with potential changes focusing mainly on defining access to partial retirement criteria and identifying hazardous working conditions’ professions amongst other core issues at stake.
