Br800K is miner’s retirement package, while minister gets Br1200K
“Pension should not be perceived as a donation or a benefit. This is the main source of income for pensioners. That’s why those who really need it should be getting the pension”, Aleh Pralyaskouski, the chief of ideology department at the Administration of the President said last week in Salihorsk where he came personally in order to calm down the striking miners. The government plans to ban miners from working after retirement.
Aliaksandr Yarashuk, the chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Pro-Democracy Trade Unions, says these amendments in the pension laws will lower the income of a retired miner by 5 times.
“Miners are not enemies to themselves, wanting to continue working after retirement. The issue is that miners get a good pay (Br1.5-3 million per month). The paradox of the situation and the Belarusian economy is that after retirement these people will immediately become poor, because their pension makes 20 percent of their salary,” Yarashuk said.
The European Radio for Belarus decided to find out how much miners make monthly, but the conversation with the deputy chairman of the miners’ union Ivan Perminau resembled a cat-and-mouth game. He would not reveal the figure, but after this reporter mentioned Br3 million, he said:
“In principle, this is approximately right. But maybe it can be higher or lower”.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Security has posted on its official web site the wage statistics in September. After having worked for at least 10 years, miners are entitled to a pension of Br624.570. 20-25 years of working experience will provide for Br758.940 of the monthly pension. Thus, the income of Br3.000.000 that retired miners are paid seems to be high to our officials. The pension of the working public servants is as twice as less (Br355.830).
In the words of Stanislau Bahdankevich, the former chairman of the National Bank, high-ranking officials are paid higher pensions: over Br1 million.
“Taking into account that I am a state official, I am paid more than an ordinary pensioner. The net amount is around Br1million. The National Bank adds up a little bit thus making a total of Br1.200.000 per month”.
Mechyslau Hryb, the former speaker of the parliament, said his pension was over Br1 million. In addition, he is a police general.
“The pension for military officers and officers with law-enforcement and security agencies depends on the number of years on the force. It cannot go beyond 75 percent of the salary. Generals have a pension of more than Br1 million. Police Captain gets around Br800-900,000.”
Therefore, the pension of a miner is Br500.000 less than the one of a high-ranking state official, but equals the pension of a policeman. Aliaksandr Yarashuk proposes to copy the experience of foreign countries where retired officials and miners are equal.
“We need to reform the pension system. The insurance and saving systems are needed. The future pension of miners and the people, working at hazardous sectors, should amount to at least 60 percent of their salary. This figure is 75-80 percent in the developed countries”.
Another point is the improvement of working conditions. Obviously, the working conditions of officials and miners differ greatly. But Ivan Perminau, the deputy chairman of the miners’ union, says that there are no immediate plans to amend provisions that regulate the working conditions.
“No doubt that working in a mine is a hard job. I used to be a miner for 20 years, too. But I don’t see it necessary to talk about the improvement of working conditions”.
Photo:firesea (CanCetin)
