October 10th Pensioners’ Protest in Six Cities

Under the motto ‘Stop Poverty and Humiliation in Old Age’, organized by the Pensioners’ Union of Croatia, a pensioners’ protest will be held on October 10th in six cities across Croatia, announced on Wednesday in Zadar by the legal commissioner of the Zadar Territorial Office of the Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (SSSH), Vedran Uranija.

The protest will demand from the Government an increase in pensions, the introduction of a national pension, reform of the pension system, and protection of other rights of pensioners.

>>>‘Aged’ Slovenians Prepare Contribution for Long-Term Care

– More than 60 percent of pensioners live below the poverty line. It is unacceptable that those who decide on pensions announce and determine an increase in pensions of 2.1 percent, while at the same time privileged categories see their pensions increased by 1000 and even up to 3500 kuna. The tax reform by the Ministry of Finance has only benefited those pensioners who had pensions greater than 6300 kuna. What kind of tax reform is that?, asked Uranija.

Therefore, he added, a radical change in the pension system is being sought and an increase in pensions by 19 percent for those pensioners who retired after January 1, 1999, as they have been the most disadvantaged.

>>>Rovinj Hospital Collaborates with American University on Therapeutic Park Project

– For other categories of pensioners, we are demanding a 14 percent increase in pensions, starting from January 1, 2018, he stated and called on workers, former workers, veterans, and other citizens to protest on October 10th at 4 PM at Pope John Paul II Square in Zadar.

Uranija warned that pensions in Croatia are among the lowest in the European Union, and the alarming fact is that the Croatian poverty line is 2085 kuna, which means that almost half of all pensions are below the poverty line, and the share of the average pension in net salary is the lowest of all other countries in the region, at only 37.7 percent.