Polish parliament agrees to raise retirement age to 67
By DOMINIKA MASLIKOWSKI
WARSAW, Poland -- In what Prime Minister Donald Tusk described as "the most bitter victory" of his life, Poland's parliament on Friday agreed to gradually raise the retirement age to 67, despite strong opposition from trade unionists.
Tusk had warned of a "catastrophe" if Poland failed to pass what he said was a necessary bill to secure pensions for future retirees. Studies have forecast a shortage of workers by 2040, when most of the country's population will be older than 50 years.
The bill passed in the lower house with 268 votes in favor and 185 votes against. It must now go to the parliament's upper house, where it is expected to pass, before it is finally signed into law by the president.
The bill will raise the retirement age gradually, from the current 65 years for men and 60 for women to 67 for both, starting next year. The higher retirement age will fully come into force by 2020 for men and by 2040 for women.
Parliament also voted to tighten pension requirements for the police and the military. Uniformed people will now need to work 25 years to be eligible for benefits, instead of the current 15 years.
The vote came as trade unionists gathered for a third day of protests. They blockaded the parliament building by chaining the entry gates, burned portraits of officials and set up a coffin that they said symbolized the country.
Some parliamentarians reportedly tried to leave via a neighboring building before Solidarity leader Piotr Duda lifted the blockade, swearing that "this is not the end."
Opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said politicians who had supported the bill reached an "incredible boorishness on the level of Adolf Hitler's dreams of Poles."
"If someone is to receive 300 zloty ($91), because that's how much the partial retirement pensions will be, that is a sentence to death by hunger," Kaczynski, the leader of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, said after the vote was cast.Beata Kempa of the opposition United Poland party called it a "black day for Polish democracy."
Kaczynski said the reform "would land in the trash" if his party were to regain power, and that there were better ways to speed Poland's growth.
The bill also allows partial retirement for women at 62, as long as they have worked for at least 35 years. Men will have to work for at least 40 years and reach the age of 65 to qualify.
The bill has already hurt Tusk's approval ratings and at one point threatened to break apart his party's coalition with the Polish People's Party.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/11/4483702/polish-parliament-agrees-to-raise.html