Waiting for pensioners to die
I am a former civil servant with a social service pension (SSP), which, for 2022, inclusive of perks such as bonuses, should have been €14,334.69 but was reduced by €6,381.24 to €7,953.45 because of my Treasury pension component.
It is important to note that, since the value of the perks is eliminated after subtraction, €6,381.24 is the correct reduction figure from my SSP.
Also, since I was born prior to 1962, together with all those born likewise, I shall be punished with a reduction of €10 daily compared with pensioners born on or post January 1, 1962.
Anomalies in pensions continue. Photo: Shutterstock.comMy €6,381.24 reduction is being redeemed by €200 annually.
For a full correction, therefore, I shall have to wait for 6,381.24 / 200 years = 32 years. So, I break even 31 years beyond 2023, at age 109, necessitating more than a pinch of luck.
One notes that there are former ex- civil service pensioners who, like myself, have been on retirement for 17 years, (as from) 2006, and who have not yet been awarded a single annual €200 correction. In contrast, there are former civil servants in different scales who have already broken even and no longer suffer a reduction in their SSP, having started their correction as early as 2008.
Still, we have a 79-member Maltese parliament and six representatives at the EU parliament who have not yet noticed any of this or prefer to bury their head in the sand. Not to mention the apathy of the UĦM, the GWU, the MUT and the rest of the other unions.
So, the message from the union leaders is clear: “We were born prior to 1962. Your vote counts to naught.”
Joseph Grech – Birkirkara