First modification:
The Uruguayan pension reform has been widely debated in recent months as a result of criticism from the members of Luis Lacalle Pou’s government. In addition, it was rejected by the opposition and the unions, which argue that extending the working life of Uruguayans is not the answer to the potential deficit of the pension system.
This Thursday, April 27, the Uruguayan Senate approved the increase in the retirement age from 60 to 65 years. This reform, which proposes that the change be made progressively, was one of the commitments of the Government of the conservative president Luis Lacalle Pou. However, its path to approval was tortuous and caused tensions within the coalition that makes up the Executive.
The law reached the Legislature in October 2022 promoted by the National Party, the president’s organization, but had to be renegotiated as a result of criticism from the Colorado Party and Cabildo Abierto, members of the ruling coalition. Lacalle Pou summed up the situation like this in front of the media locals: “We had a liter of milk, it was pouring water, water, water, but it is still milk. If it were water, we would no longer promote the reform.”
In addition to disagreements among the government’s own allies, the reform also drew criticism from the unions and the opposition from the Broad Front, the center-left party that led Uruguay for 15 years. In fact, thousands of people mobilized last Tuesday in a general strike to show their discontent with the law.
The spokesman for the PIT-CNT union, Sergio Sommaruga, quoted by the EFE news agency, argued that the reform “It is neither fair nor democratic, much less supportive, but it is also socially inefficient”. Sommaruga also stressed that this plan will mean that the majority of workers “will have to die until they are 65 years old” in order to obtain retirement.
One of the government’s main arguments is that the Uruguayan population is ageing: with a declining birth rate and life expectancy that has grown to 80 years, it may be increasingly difficult for active workers to sustain pensions. of the retirees.
However, the opposition and the unions dispute that other financing options can be considered to cover the potential deficit in pensions without the need to raise the retirement age. According to the consultancy ‘Cifra’54 percent of Uruguayans do not agree with the approved changes.
With EFE and local media
