A sigh of relief for thousands of Italian pensioners: the Monti government law that affected them two years ago will not be extended to 2014. The block on the indexation of pensions higher than three times the minimum allowance will expire at the end of 2013 and from next year, social security checks will once again be revalued according to inflation. The reassurance came directly from Enrico Giovannini, Minister of Welfare.
“I have no intention of intervening below those levels and we will not use the indexing block to raise cash – said the minister -. I never even thought about it. My idea is full indexing for certain levels, less for others, and not necessarily with the parameters used so far".
Indeed, the good news does not concern everyone, but only those who receive pension benefits up to six times the minimum (currently 2.886 euros gross per month). With last year's stability law, Parliament had already protected these people. Giovannini's words, therefore, reassure only those who feared a last-minute retreat by the government.
for pensions exceeding six times the minimumInstead, the block remains. These are just over 600 checks out of a total of over 23,4 million checks, for an annual amount of nearly 34 billion out of the over 270 distributed by INPS. The value of the rule would therefore be measured in terms of social equity even before accounting utility.
"As the Democratic Party we intervened forcefully already in the last legislature to give pensions back a revaluation linked to the cost of living that would overcome the block wanted by former minister Fornero - he underlined Cesare Damiano, president of the Montecitorio Labor Commission -. From 2014, the indexing block will only apply to the part exceeding six times the minimum”.
As for pensions of gold, Giovannini reiterated that, “even if we are dealing with a few people, correcting this distortion is a matter of social justice. The tools are being studied, because the Constitutional Court has already blocked” interventions in this direction.
Meanwhile the CGIL, through the mouth of the confederal secretary Vera Lamonica, asks the minister to "start a transparent discussion on the pension issue that indicates the direction to follow as a sign of a trend reversal".
The union leader underlined the need to review “the rigidity introduced into the system by the past government's pension maneuver” to evaluate “the repercussions on the labor market of this rigid mechanism of outflows. We can not wait anymore".
