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The Paradox of Pensioners
Alina Martínez Triay
Conceptually, retirement is the moment when the worker ceases to work in order to rest and start receiving a pension. This step is assumed in different ways by those who reach the age and years of work required to obtain it.
Some see it as an opportunity to relax after long years of continuous work, to satisfy some desires or goals that until then had not been possible to achieve.
Others feel able to continue contributing their knowledge or skills and take advantage of the possibility of being rehired in the same or another position and to combine their salary with their pension.
The latter option benefits both the beneficiary and the institution, because it takes advantage of the knowledge and experience of the elderly not only in the production or service process, but also for the training of new workers.
I even know of retirees who have ceased to be retirees at the request of the entities that have come to pick them up at their home because of their proven proficiency in a certain activity.
What is a form of personal fulfillment, of continuing to feel useful for a few more years in view of the increase in life expectancy, has recently become not so much a spiritual necessity as an economic one, given the abusive and speculative prices they face on a daily basis, which wreak havoc on their pockets and consequently on their standard of living.
Enjoy the right to rest or go back to work? It is a paradox. Those who can do so do the latter.
If the situation is complex for them, it is worse for those who are unable to continue working because of their poor health or because of unavoidable obligations, such as caring for other elderly or sick family members, among other reasons.
If there is one regrettable consequence of inflation, it is that it has turned retirees into vulnerable citizens of our society. Some who retired some time ago are in a worse situation and their just demand is that their pensions be increased or at least brought into line with those who retired more recently, because the pensions they receive are barely enough to subsist on.
At a plenary session of the National Council of the , the First Secretary of the Party and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said: «We must aspire to a dignified life for those who retire. There are material problems but we cannot allow the spiritual fabric of society to be torn apart».
And when he pointed out to the union the issues to be followed up, he called to «review the different existing criteria on retirement because there can be no neglect or carelessness for those who contributed to the country and educated several generations».
Addressing the needs of the growing population aged 60 and over and encouraging the participation of older adults in economic, political and social tasks are among the objectives of the policy to address the country’s demographic dynamics.
It is a praiseworthy purpose although the complex economic context does not allow the fulfillment of all that was envisioned. Nevertheless, steps have been taken, such as the increase of the pension to the Heroes and Heroines of Labor and to the underground combatants and internationalists, among others. There is also the possibility of applying the pension for exceptional merits that allows receiving 90% of the salary without having to reach 45 years of work, which must be approved by the head of the entity.
It is necessary to be more proactive in the search for their welfare so that once retired they can assume life with dignity.
Union Demand for a Fair Claim
Roberto Betharte Mazorra*
Retirement is a human right; it is nothing more than the recognition of the contributions made by workers during 30 years of service or more in a work activity.
This recognition of the worker’s service and experience is expressed through the file that reflects his or her work life or the history of the worker’s performance in terms of his or her contributions to society.
Therefore, it is essential that the workers, together with the union organization and the employers, sign the record of delivery of the labor file, which validates the existence of all the necessary documentation required for retirement.
This is not always complied with in the labor entities and in our Workers’ Attention Office we receive countless claims of right from the affiliates on this sensitive matter, generally motivated by the loss of the file or the lack of indispensable documents that must be kept, especially those related to the document of time of service and salary collected in the SNC-2-25 card, which came into force as of 1980.
The importance of the labor file is endorsed in the Labor Code, which establishes that the entity, when required by law, prepares or updates it with the registration of the employee’s labor history data. Something that is not usually done is that the worker or his representative has the right to examine it at any time to correct errors or omissions in time, and also the interested party has the possibility of periodically signing the SNC-2-25 card and thus certifying the data reflected therein.
The entity is required to protect the labor records in its custody and in case of deterioration or partial or total loss, it must take the necessary steps to restore them, with the participation, of course, of the employee. It is also important to remember that, at the end of the employment relationship, the parties must hand over the file to the employee or his or her relatives.
In a study carried out by the Labor and Social Affairs Sphere of the , it was possible to know the remarkable increase before the attention office that the claim of our workers for a file with all the requirements was due to the implementation of Decree Law 36 modifying Law 105.
It establishes the reinstatement of a pensioner in the same position he/she held at the time of obtaining the pension plus the opportunity to receive 100% of the basic salary of such position plus other benefits of the salary and income organization, if any in the entity.
The new regulations in force for the year 2021, stimulated the application to the Human Resources departments, the retirement process, in order to proceed with the reinstatement.
This increase in the number of applications resulted in crowds and delays at the municipal processing offices, in many cases due to the poor preparation or lack of regulatory documents certifying the years of service rendered, which had erasures, amendments, annotations that did not match the observations reflected, reduction of time of service and salary, among other deficiencies.
It is up to the union to demand that employers comply correctly with the provisions of the regulations in force for the preparation of this vital document.
It cannot be justified by the lack of technicians or specialists in the control of years of service, that a worker who has devoted a large part of his life to the production of goods and services for society, is affected at the time of retirement.
*Head of the Department of Labor and Social Affairs of
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Graduada de Periodismo. Subdirector Editorial del Periódico Trabajadores desde el …
