Left-wing opposition party the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) declared on Tuesday that it has already amassed nearly 200,000 signatures for a referendum against the government's plan to raise the national retirement age. The party hopes to bring a motion to parliament in mid-March, calling for the referendum.
“We have close to 200,000 [signatures], having doubled the number from a week ago,” said SLD spokesman Dariusz Jonski at a press conference on Tuesday. “Collecting goes on – we want to gather about half a million,” he said. Technically, one of the prerequisites for a referendum under Polish law is the support of 500,000 adult citizens.
Currently, women in Poland retire at 60, while men do so at 65. The goverment wants this to be levelled at 67 for both sexes. The transition would be achieved by gradual increases every four months as of 2013, with men fully adjusted to the new system by 2020.
The PM said last week that the ratio of Polish workers to pensioners is currently at 3:1, but he believes that by 2040 it may well be 2:1, and by 2060 1:1. “We have no doubt that the Polish reality of the 2040s, 2050s, and 2060s will see a shortage of workers," he said.
However, SLD's Dariusz Jonski argued today that “what happens in 30 years time is not so important as what happens today and tomorrow.” Jonski championed “the need to find at least several hundred thousand new jobs to stimulate the economy,” and claimed that “increasing the retirement age will do nothing.” The SLD spokesman pledged that his party will announce more specific plans on how to solve the problem in the near future.
Meanwhile, earlier in the morning, Prime Minister Tusk hosted talks with members of the conservative opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), which is also against the retirement age being raised. After the meeting, Tusk claimed that “privately”, PiS MPs know that there is no other option but to raise the retirement age. He suggested that the party was taking a stand for populist reasons. “I understand that it is awkward for politicians, especially those who are familiar with social policy, to admit publicly that they know that raising the retirement age is a necessity,” he said. (nh)
Leszek Miller of SLD (C) collects referendum signaatures. Photo: PAP/Piotr Polak