A pension point increase by less than 15 percent would bring no improvement in the lives of pensioners and cannot be accepted, president of the "Solidaritatea" National Federation of Romanian Pensioners (FNSPR) Marin Iancu told AGERPRES today during a retiree protest rally organized in front of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection by two FNSPR member organizations.
"The dismissed Labor Minister has spoken of an increase by 5 - 6 percent, up to 12 percent, but we see this is dragging on over such a long time span and we, the pensioners, no longer accept this. With all living expenditures on the rise, a pension point increase by less than 15 percent is unacceptable and cannot result in an improvement of the pensioners' living standards," said Marin Iancu, who went on to note that in the past two years the pensioners have been continuously lied to by the government that has skipped the pension rises provided for by the Pension Law.
"The well-grounded reason for today's protest is the particularly difficult life the Romanians in general and pensioners in particular are leading today. As far as we are concerned, we cannot accept this haggling of the government regarding the indexation of pensions, the increase of the pension point. We have been practically deceived and lied to throughout these two years, the Pension Law which provides for the pension point increase to reach 45 percent of the nationwide average gross salary has been disregarded. Another legal provision which has not been enforced is that of the annual indexing of pensions, which has been completely and deliberately ignored by the governments and the President of Romania," Marin Iancu said.
The representative of the pensioners points out that with spiraling prices, the pensioners have been pushed to the limit of subsistence.
"Everyone is aware of this price escalation, not just for gas and electricity, but for everything livelihood. Absolutely everything, food included, is growing more expensive. So we ask the question: How can a retiree who worked for 35-40 years to collect a pension of 1,100 - 1,500 lei survive under these conditions? We want the pensions to rise. We want the President of Romania and the government that is to take over to realize that we have reached the limit of subsistence, the limit of endurance for the life we lead," Marin Iancu said.
The representative of the pensioners' organization also called on the government to consult the population on the introduction of the Covid digital certificate, which will affect people's jobs.
"With all these endless debates over the green certificate, it would be best to urgently consult the population on enforcing this green certificate, which ultimately affects the Romanians' workplace and lives," said Marin Iancu, who concluded with the request that the "Solidaritatea" National Federation of Romanian Pensioners be included in the Seniors National Council.
Several dozens of retirees participated on Thursday in two protest rallies, one in front of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, the other in front of the Presidency - their main reasons of discontent being the low pensions amid rising prices, political instability, the imposition of the Covid certificate requirement and the absence of a policy for the massive testing of the population.
The rally was organized by members of the Galati County Alliance of European Pensioners and of the Valcea County Pensioners Union, both founders of the "Solidaritatea" National Federation of Romanian Pensioners.
The protesters carried signs that read "Why hike prices if we're broke?" "The Ministry of Idleness and Social Disdain blatantly rips us off, slumbers in its boots, but voraciously feeds off the national pension fund", "Down with 'My Own Government' of country and nation traitors"," Stop the genocide of Romanians, pensioners in particular","No to compulsory vaccination, Yes to free testing and preventive medication", "No to the green certificate!"
The protest props also included a coffin on which the messages "Iohannis - the chief gravedigger for the retirees" and "Iohannis, the Terminator of Romania" were placed.