Major uproar among parties and trade unions after AHV miscalculation
Published: Tuesday, Aug 6th 2024, 13:30
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The AHV miscalculation by the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) has triggered a wave of indignation among political parties and trade unions. In view of the changed facts, left-wing parties and trade unions are questioning the narrow popular vote in 2022 to increase the retirement age for women.
The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) warned of a loss of confidence in the reliability of official information on retirement provision. The proposal to increase the retirement age for women was only accepted with 50.5 percent of votes in favor. However, the forecast models used for the AHV financial scenarios were too pessimistic and not realistic, explained the SGB.
The Greens, the SP and the SP Women also expressed their displeasure in their communiqués published on Tuesday. "It is disconcerting that the Federal Council is not apologizing for this mistake and is not proposing to repeat this vote on its own initiative," the co-president of the SP Women, Tamara Funiciello, was quoted as saying in a statement. Both the SP Women and the Greens are examining a complaint as well as political and legal options to hold Parliament and the Federal Council to account.
There was also astonishment among the conservatives. SVP parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi welcomed the investigation announced by Interior Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, as he told the Keystone-SDA newsroom when asked. Now it must be clarified who is responsible. It is problematic when false figures are communicated before important votes. However, Aeschi rejected a repeat of the vote on the women's retirement age.
Sharp criticism of Baume-Schneider and Berset
The FDP sharply criticized the responsible SP Federal Councillor Baume-Schneider and the former SP Federal Councillor Alain Berset. The FSIO had caused a fiasco under their leadership. The party demanded a review of the forecasts in other areas of social insurance such as disability insurance and supplementary benefits.
The deviations published by the federal government are almost equivalent to a 13th month's pension, wrote the trade union federation. It demanded that the more money available than previously thought should be credited to the insured persons. The 13th AHV pension approved by the people should be paid out as early as 2025.
The umbrella organization of employees in Switzerland, Travailsuisse, called for the financing of the 13th AHV pension and pensions to be adjusted to the new forecasts. It has now become clear that a reduction in the federal contribution based on the adjusted forecasts would not only be budget-neutral, but would actually save money at the expense of the AHV.
On Tuesday, the FSIO revised the financial outlook for the AHV downwards. AHV expenditure in 2033 is likely to be around CHF 4 billion or around 6 percent lower than previously calculated. The financial situation of the AHV is therefore likely to be better than assumed.
©Keystone/SDA
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