The Construction Workers’ Association Statement
We do not accept an increase in the retirement age
Recently, parliamentarians, instead of addressing the problems of workers, pensioners, and those receiving regular allowances who, every day, cry out for their overdue rights on the streets or in front of relevant offices, have increased the retirement age. It seems that the financial problems and crises of the Pension Fund are being attributed to the increase in the retirement age.
The increase in the retirement age does not seem logical or feasible in some industrialized and advanced countries worldwide, considering solutions to housing issues, food and nutrition, improvement of healthcare and medical services, reduction of working hours, and other factors.
However, in our country, due to various reasons including an uncertain and discouraging future for workers and wage earners, unbridled inflation, the daily reduction of workers’ purchasing power, their diminishing livelihoods, high unemployment rates, multiple times lower wages than the poverty line, economic mismanagement pushing a vast portion of the population below the poverty line, and the disregard for workers’ organizations, in a country where a significant population lives below the poverty line due to inefficient economic management, increasing the retirement age seems unjust, unreasonable, and incompatible with the current conditions and circumstances of a nation that still falls under developing and third-world countries. Therefore, it should be promptly and immediately cancelled.
Instead of addressing the issues of workers and safeguarding the workforce in practice, where we witness the daily deaths of workers due to workplace safety negligence, and attending to the legitimate demands of retirees who have exhausted themselves in the service and development of society, increasing the retirement age, in a situation where the material, moral, and legal infrastructures are not in place, is an imprudent, illegal, and irrational act. In reality, it is a deviation aimed at diverting public attention from the real economic livelihood challenges faced by retirees and workers. Unfortunately, this has led to the creation of a platform for dissent, unrest, and concerns in society, causing disillusionment and despair among the members of the community.
We, the trade unions of workers and construction instructors in Kurdistan province, strongly protest against the increase in the retirement age on behalf of members of the parliament. We demand its immediate cancellation and swift attention to the problems facing retirees and workers. We declare that any changes to the retirement age must involve the active participation of worker representatives and genuine workers’ organizations.
If members of the parliament are concerned about the Pension Fund’s situation, does increasing the retirement age seem to be the only solution they consider? If today, the labour community is being neglected and even denied its rightful demands, whether by the government or employers, parliamentarians should not aggravate this wound with non-expert and non-principled decisions. They should exert pressure on the government to settle its debts, amounting to tens of trillions, to the organization and ensure that hundreds of thousands of eligible construction workers are promptly insured.
Why should the consequences of inconsistency and mismanagement in the income and expenses of the Pension Fund be borne by the working class, the insured, and the general public at the cost of further exploitation?
For years, we have been highlighting the dangers facing this fund, but no one paid attention. In conclusion, we remind everyone that insurance is a mutual agreement, and any changes to it without the consent of both parties (partners in the organization) have no legal basis. It will lead to disputes and subsequent protests. We urge the Guardian Council to reject it
More than 120 construction workers associations have signed this statement
