A campaign by the far-left Belgian Workers’ Party (PTB) for a minimum pension of €1,500 a month has gathered 100,000 signatures in just three months, the party announced.
The party aims to launch a citizens’ initiative law, which has to be voted on in parliament, and which requires 25,000 signatures to a petition. That threshold has already been reached and more.
The minimum pension was a major issue in the party’s platform for the federal elections in May this year, in which it gained 8.62% of the vote with its Flemish counterpart PVDA. The party then deplored the loss of purchasing power of the state pension under the government led by Charles Michel, particularly the loss of the €180 a month supplement for anyone working through to the age of 65.
The party also supports a pension for under-50s who lose their job; for anyone who has had a career break for any reason, such as parenthood, and for those whose working life has been extended by starting work at an early age.
“If we also add in measures to raise the legal pension age to 67, and the progressive removal of the right to early retirement, we are seeing a thorough re-drawing of the pension landscape in Belgium,” the document accompanying the petition states.
The attainment of 100,000 signatures to the petition is not the end of the campaign. The party intends to go on to gather 250,000 signatures.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
