MAIN opposition DISY yesterday proposed extending the age of retirement for civil servants to 65 in a bid to secure the viability of the social insurance fund and resolve problems with the state pensions system.
Opposition parties have described a €750 million government austerity package as being inadequate and are expected to submit their own proposals when the measures are discussed in the Plenum on August 25.
Unions have already warned that any unilateral actions would be strongly opposed.
“Through this proposal we are essentially trying to secure the viability of the pension fund, which faces significant problems and has been justly described as a time-bomb for the country’s economy,” DISY MP Ionas Nicolaou.
He said the proposal concerns all civil servants and “we expect that at some point it could be extended to other organisations (semi-government) whose (employee) retirement ages are regulated by special legislation.”
Nicolaou conceded that there would be reaction to the proposal, like there was resistance when retirement age had been extended to 63 but he voiced his party’s readiness to hear views “and at the same time judge on the basis of what is beneficial for the country.”
Nicolaou said the proposal would not be retroactive and there could be a transitional period to allow for the necessary arrangements to be made.
Asked if this proposal would affect government plans to cut the civil service by 5,000 in five years by hiring one for every four who retire, Nicolaou said it will have an impact on planning “but at the same time its retirements which essentially create the problem.”
DIKO, as well as EDEK, are also expected to submit their own proposals.
EDEK MP Nicos Nicolaides, a former minister in this administration, said his party will table its own proposals for substantive measures that will give hope to the economy and strong messages to international markets “and assume its share of the political cost.”
Nicolaides said time was running out for the economy, with high bond yields prohibiting any thoughts for outside borrowing while banks, where the government seeks domestic borrowing, have suffered repeated downgrades.
SEK, the union affiliated with DISY, warned against unilateral measures but added that his union was willing to discuss extending the retirement age.
Left-wing union PEO stressed that workers will not accept anything they have not agreed to beforehand.
“We will seriously study any proposal on the table and will not rush to take a decision despite the provocations against us,” PEO official Christos Tompazos said.
Unlike the civil servants umbrella union PASYDY, which comprises solely of state workers, SEK and PEO also represent private sector workers who seem to be unhappy with the austerity package agreed between their unions and the government.
On the other hand, political parties opposing the package must now deal with the discontent of their civil servants voters.
