|
|
Thousands of German Pensioners Protest Reforms
By Brian Swint, Reuters
March 29, 2004
Tens of thousands of German pensioners, some in wheelchairs, others leaning on walking sticks, took to the streets on Monday to protest government pension reforms.
Blowing whistles and holding signs reading "Fight Pension Cuts", 5,000 people marched through Berlin, while around 25,000 flooded the streets of Munich, police said. Further demonstrations took place in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Bremen.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government has frozen pensions this year and increased charges for health as part of his "Agenda 2010" plan to boost the economy. Legislation passed this month will also slow the rise in future pension payments.
"We built Germany back up after 1945, and now we're practically being punished for it," said Ingrid Wegner, 74, as she took a rest at a bus stop along the Berlin protest route.
Pensioner discontent is a troubling sign for Schroeder's Social Democrats as they face 13 local, state and European elections this year. A resounding weekend regional election defeat for the French government, also committed to unpopular reforms, provided little cheer for Germany's government.
Pension reform is a hot issue in many European countries where falling birthrates and rising life-expectancy mean there will soon be too few people in employment to fund pension schemes that rely on contributions from current workers.
The German government argues reforms are needed to stop the financial burden on taxpayers and public finances becoming too heavy as the population ages.
Germany has one of the lowest birth rates in the EU and its budget deficit already exceeds EU limits.
20 MILLION GREY VOTES
Numbering nearly 20 million, pensioners form about a quarter of Germany's population, and a higher level of active voters.
Wegner and her husband Kot, 79, say that when they combine lower payouts and the higher medical costs arising from her hip replacements and knee surgery, Schroeder's reforms cost them about a month's income of 1,400 euros ($1,700) a year.
"The SPD will never do anything sensible," Kot Wegner said. "They have failed."
Other demonstrators said even when their cuts seemed small they nevertheless added up. "I'll be getting 40 to 50 euros less a month," said a 65-year old woman who asked not to be named. "But that means I won't be able to go out as often," she said.
Social Democrats suffered a crushing defeat in the first election of the year in Hamburg as opposition Christian Democrats took 47 percent of the votes.
Opinion polls show the SPD trailing the Christian Democrats by 20 points and unions are planning more demonstrations -- as part of Europe-wide anti-reform protests -- this weekend.
Painful reforms in France sent President Jacques Chirac's ruling party to a crushing defeat in regional polls Sunday.
In a speech to a Social Democrat think tank on Monday, Schroeder noted governments that have taken up the challenge of reform have been punished by voters: "We have had that experience and the French have had that experience," he said.
|
|
