Pensioners demand 7% higher pensions, end of austerity
The government has eliminated the austerity measures from the emergency 2012 law on balancing public finances for all groups of citizens but pensioners.
"It is unacceptable to keep saving on the back of pensioners," the SUS said in an open letter addressed to the government and MPs on Thursday.
The union also demands that by 30 November 2019, pensioners receive half of the amount which was not paid out in 2010-2017 because the pensions were not being raised.
SUS head Francka Ćetković said in the release that as a result of this, the pensions were now lower by EUR 319 million.
Another demand is that in 2020 pensioners with pensions below EUR 800 receive an annual allowance of EUR 600. Those with higher pension should receive EUR 300.
The SUS expects the government and MPs to reply to the demands by September.
If the demands are not met, it intends to stage rallies in Ljubljana or ask the Constitutional Court to examine the inequalities in the pension system.
The share of GDP Slovenia allocates for pensions is below the EU average, according to the union.
What is more, the country spent a smaller share of GDP on pensions in 2018 than in 2013, which is not in line with trends in Europe, it added.
"So attempts at scaring people that righting the wrongs suffered by pensioners puts at stake the stability of Slovenia's public finances, are absurd and unacceptable," the unions said.