The government has found a solution to respond, in part, to the protests of tens of thousands of retired bank employees who would be excluded from the extra half-pension bonus to be paid in October. “The Minister of Labor, Ana Mendes Godinho, guaranteed that at least all pensioners will receive 125 euros from the state,” Cristina Damião, the coordinator of recruitment and legal services of MAIS Sindicato do Setor Financeiro, told Dinheiro Vivo afterwards. Tuesday’s meeting with the minister and two other industry unions – Central Bank Workers Union (SBC) and Northern Bank Workers Union (SBN).
However, the dissatisfaction persists. “It was progress, but the unions continue to demand the same treatment as Social Security pensioners and Caixa Geral de Aposentações, who will still receive half a pension,” added Cristina Damião. Therefore, the unions will “ask the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic for a hearing to clarify the situation and, if necessary, proceed to the successive inspection of the constitutionality of the diploma contrary to the principle of equal treatment,” explains the leader, union.
Unions are demanding equal treatment for other Social Security retirees and will request an audience with the Prime Minister and President of the Republic.
At least 22,000 retirees who are members of MAIS Sindicato, up to 50,000 nationwide, will not have access to the 50% pension bonus, either because they have only withheld it from private bank pension funds or because only a small part of their non-contributory career has been registered with social security, with a mixed situation where the pension is paid almost entirely by the bank and the rest by social security. For these situations, the government diploma is omitted, so that in the first case the pensioner is not entitled to the supplement and in the second case Social Security pays only 50% of the value assigned to the pensioner.
Ana Mendes Godinho explained to the unions that the extraordinary pension allowance, which will cost the state treasury a billion euros, in fact only applies to those who fall under the regime of Social Security or Caixa Geral de Aposentações, an advance on the regular 2023 update.
That is why the cabinet is coming up with another measure to ensure that no pensioner receives less than 125 euros from the bank in October. That is, a pensioner of the mixed regime with a pension of 1000 euros, 100 of which is paid by social security, is entitled to 125 euros instead of another 50 euros. In the case of a pensioner who has only withheld from the private fund, he is entitled to 125 euros through the allowance for all taxpayers with gross monthly salaries up to 2700 euros. Now a retiree who is fully integrated into social security will already receive the half board bonus in full. The DV has asked the Ministry of Labor how this measure will be operationalized, but has not received a response until the close of the edition.
Ana Mendes Godinho also assured that, in the case of pensioners in a mixed regime, the check for 125 euros will not be absorbed by the bank, as the institution usually only pays the difference until the defined pension amount has been reached. That is, if the social security gives 100 euros for a pension of a thousand, the bank pays 900. Now, with a supplement of 125 euros, there is a risk that the financial institution only pays 875 euros and absorbs the increase in the pensionable person.
Dinheiro Vivo journalist
Source: DN
