Feb. 2014.
Contribution from the Danish Communist Party to the
Founding congress of the WFTU TUI of Trade Unions of Pensioners and Retired Persons
by Janni Milsted, retiree member of the Danish Union of Children and Youth Educators (BUPL), member of the Residents' Association board in Mjølnerparken, Copenhagen, and chairman of Mjølnerparken’s Senior housing Community Midgården.
Former shop steward, and national chairman of the BUPL 1976-1983.
Dear friends and comrades.
Firstly, on behalf of the Danish Communist Party I want to thank the WFTU for initiating and invoking this congress.
We support the stance - which has fostered this congress - that pensioners and other retirees - who all over the world suffer greatly due to the crisis of Capitalism - should act guided by the proletarian internationalism, and fight for basic labor rights and for a decent retirement pension as a global reality.
We must fight for free medication, public and free social welfare and decent public pensions.
Together with the other Scandinavian and Nordic countries, Denmark is known to be a rich country that offers a highly developed and relatively fair social security and welfare system.
To this, you used to add a completely free health care system with free hospitals, free general practitioners (doctors), and public sickness benefits. All this is state - meaning tax financed.
Other parts of the public health and social security system – for instance medication outside the hospital, dental treatment, and unemployment benefits – has elements of a public insurance: granted by the state, but with a strong element of individual payment and fees.
From the late 1950’es and on, our old age social pension was developed as a social welfare benefit, as a right for everybody - called the “people’s pension”. According to what is called a “universal welfare principle”, the law granted every residence in Denmark a pension, regardless of occupational status - currently from the age of 67.
In 1973, Denmark entered the EU (then the EEC) which caused an amendment to the law. Instead of simply “residence” as a condition, a residency of 40 years was – and still is - acquired.
This is due to the fact that no other country in the EEC had such a system, and that the EU-principle of free movement was feared to tempt EEC-citizens to spend their old age in Denmark.
More often, the pension systems in these countries are based on insurance principles, linked to occupational activities, combined with the individual’s own savings.
And exactly this is a point that gives women a special reason to fight for the maintenance of the universal principle as opposed to the insurance principle.
The reason is that benefit systems linked to the labor market, to occupational activities and wages, are bound to cause gender un-equality!
Women as an average are not as many years in the labor market as men, and also as an average their wages are lower.
I want to stress the following: We are fully aware that our social welfare and social security system was a result of two elements in the class struggle:
After World War II, the position of the working class in the class struggle was strengthened. The mere existence of the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries was a threat to Capital. Denmark even had the GDR as a neighbor country.
The Socialist example - concerning social security and labor rights - enabled a strong and struggling trade union movement to push for improvements of the social security and welfare system.
In Denmark, it certainly belongs in the picture that during those decades, the cadres of the Communist Party of Denmark were a force in the trade union movement, and the influence of the party was notable.
During the 1960’es and 1970’es the people’s pension law was changed several times - and never for the better. Today, the amount of the social pension is low, and the principle of the “universal welfare benefit” has been violated.
Firstly, the amount of the pension has not followed the-cost-of-living adjustment for wages, and it has now reached a level that makes it very difficult for many pensioners to make ends meet.
Secondly, a return to self-insurance as a supplement to the social pension has been harmful. This system is maintained by the trade unions. As part of the collective bargaining a percentage of the worker’s wage, supplied with a percentage from the employer is deposited in a collective pension fund. According to the size of the amount paid out to the individual pensioner from the fund, her or his social pension is reduced.
A special “early retirement” benefit is financed by workers fees to their trade unions’ unemployment insurance fund, and by the state. It helped workers who were worn out, to retire at 60 years. Now it is being phased out. Considering the unemployment problem of this period, and cuts in the general unemployment benefit, this is another hard blow.
Today, under the austerity of the deep capitalist crisis, and the budget dictates of the EU, our whole social security and public welfare system is suffering serious cuts, and is deteriorating.
During later years, cuts in local government budgets have caused a yearly loss of 10.000 public jobs. Among these belong jobs in the social service and care for the elderly and old. Especially pensioners who need special treatment and assistance are gravely hit - and in a way that is violating their dignity as human beings.
The trade unions of workers and professionals in health care and social welfare are warning the public about the situation, and sometimes risking a fight.
However, by the trade union movement as such no step has been taken to organize a joint fight for the pensioners and retirees. In that respect we look forward to the inspiration that must arise from this congress.
Thank you!