Netherlands: employers and unions push to increase retirement age

The agreement signed on June 4th should allow the future coalition to adopt a final act rapidly, and recommends increasing basic public pension (AOW) to 66 in 2020 and 67 in 2025, following a national evaluation on the impact of higher life expectancy. This all implies that a government be formed rather quickly, which seems quite unlikely given the complexity of the current political situation. The VVD’s liberals, currently in the lead in the polls, want to change the modalities of the reform, frozen since the fall of Jan Peter Balkenende’s government in February. The liberals want to increase retirement age by two months every year from 2011 – reaching 67 12 years later in 2023. In addition, the liberals don’t rule out the possibility of an agreement between the government and the right-wing populists from Geert Wilders’ Freedom Part (PVV), who clearly said that he was opposed to the pension reform. Symbolically, the social partners are putting pressure on the political class before the legislative elections of June 9.
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two months every year from 2011 – reaching 67 12 years later in 2023. In addition, the liberals don’t rule out the possibility of an agreement between the government and the right-wing populists from Geert Wilders’ Freedom Part (PVV), who clearly said that he was opposed to the pension reform. Symbolically, the social partners are putting pressure on the political class before the legislative elections of June 9.

Planet Labor, June 8, 2010, No. 100454 – www.planetlabor.com

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