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24. 11. 09. - 16:00

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24. 11. 09. - 16:00

Pensions to be upped from next year

By Thomas Hochwarter

Pensions are to rise next year after pension union leaders and the SPÖ-ÖVP government agreed on a deal that will see a  1.5 per cent hike in pay-outs to pensioners next year, it was announced today (Tues).

Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor and People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Josef Pröll said pensions lower than 2,466 Euros a month will be raised by 1.5 per cent from 2010.

The coalition leaders added they agreed with pensioners’ representatives on rate in a meeting which lasted less than 20 minutes.

Pension Union bosses Andreas Khol and Karl Blecha had campaigned in favour of a 1.9 or two per cent rise for weeks, claiming elderly people suffered most in the current economic crisis.

And earlier this month, state agency Statistik Austria announced pensioner households had to spend 0.6 per cent more in October than in the same month of 2008 while inflation rose just by 0.3 per cent year on year.

Chancellor Faymann and Finance Minister Pröll also said today they had agreed on an overall 35-million-Euro one-off payment for pensioners receiving less than 1,300 Euros a month. But they added details of the scheme still needed to be negotiated.

Pröll said he was satisfied with the achieved compromise, adding that – with 544 million Euros – costs would stay under 608 million Euros the government was prepared to spend.

He explained an increase taking into account the so-called Pensioners Prices Index would have cost the government 644 million Euros. This index focuses on prices of products and services pensioners especially buy or make use of, while it excludes other factors which influence the general inflation rate.

Social Democratic Pensioners’ Union head Karl Blecha called today’s agreement a "very satisfying result", adding he would continue his fight for a higher increase taking into consideration the Pensioners Prices Index.

Conservative Pensioners’ Union chief Andreas Khol said he was "able to back today’s agreement".

Pensioners’ Union bosses had faced harsh opposition from various critics over their calls for a rise of 1.9 to two per cent.

Industrial Association (IV) President Veit Sorger recently labelled the pensioners’ appeals "anti-social" and accused the elderly of "wanting to live off the younger generation".

ÖVP youth organisation chief Sebastian Kurz agreed with Sorger on the issue.

"The Austrian pensions system is about to crash into a wall, but what do pensioners union leaders do? They step on the gas," he said recently, adding a compensation of 1.5 to 1.6 per cent was "reasonable".

Austrian Times

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