October 1 was established by the UN as the International Day of Seniors, or also day of the Elderly. Since the creation of the International Union of Trade Unions (TUI) of Pensioners and Retirees of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), this date has become a global day of struggle against exploitation, for the requirement of a decent life based on the wealth that the working class produces every day with their work.
Once again, from the TUI of P&Rs of the WFTU, we call to action all our organizations and friendly organizations, to make the next October 1st a day of vindication and fight for the rights of those who have already reached retirement and for the right to retire with dignity for those who have not yet reached this stage of life, whether their activity has developed in the formal economy, in the informal economy or in the reproduction of social life.
It is an inalienable human right that, after a life of work, people of working class and popular extraction can leave their usual activity and live with dignity. We describe a decent life as one in which, thanks to the retirement pension or the income to which one is entitled, there are sufficient resources, as well as habitable housing, drinking water, healthy food and health, culture, leisure and public transport, free and of good quality. Today there is enough wealth on the planet for all this; it is enough to distribute it fairly, instead of spending it in the imperialist wars.
However, the reality is very different and many people who should have reached retirement have to continue working due to not having access to a sufficient pension, while many of those who have retired cannot have a decent life, a situation that worsens in the case of those who have been unemployed for a while or have worked all or part of their lives in the underground economy or in the care of other people, something that affects, especially, women.
The real and fundamental cause is the capitalist mode of production, unjust and exploitative, strengthened after the temporary defeat of the socialist countries. Currently, capitalist governments are pushing for new anti-worker measures against pensioners, the working class and the people. In a generalized way, the working life is lengthened, the years of contribution to be entitled to a pension are increased and the amount obtained is decreased, all with the final objective of privatizing pensions and of turning into another business for financial capitalism that which should be a universal right. That is the meaning of the existence and extension of the Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) in many countries, and the approval by the European Union of the so-called European Personal Pension Plan (EPPP), which the TUI of P&Rs of the WFTU has denounced (in Europe, the First European Action of the P&Rs was held on June 17).
In the name of capitalist competition, retired people and pensioners around the world are suffering the worsening of their living conditions and those of their descendants, while social goods are commercialized and bloody conflicts and imperialist wars are promoted (with the money property of all thecitizens).
Against all this, we call for coordinated international action on October 1st. We will fight with unity and common action with the working class, with the people and with those who suffer capitalist exploitation, for our immediate objectives, but always with the perspective of a society without exploitation, oppression, poverty, war or calamities.
Every October 1 we will demand a decent job to be ensured for all people, adapted to their abilities, that allows them to live with dignity and to generate a decent pension or, failing that, the budgets of the state to grant them a decent pension without the humiliating adjective of “non-contributing”.
Every October 1st we will go out into the streets so the laws and constitutions of the countries approve the obligation of states to ensure, through public budgets, pensions that allow all people to retire from their jobs and live with dignity.
LIVE THE DAY OF STRUGGLE OF OCTOBER 1st!
LET’S ALL PARTICIPATE IN IT!
July of 2,019
TUI (Union of Trade Unions) of Pensioners and Retirees (P&Rs) of the WFTU
