“A pension is not a benefit. It is not a favor. It is not government generosity. It is a right. It is the return for a whole life of work, contributions and service,” PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis stressed in his address at an event of the Supreme Confederation of Pensioners of Greece.
As he said, a pensioner’s dignified life “cannot depend every year on what the prime minister of the day will announce at the Thessaloniki International Fair. It cannot depend on a one-off allowance in November. It cannot depend on whether something is left over from the enormous surpluses generated by high prices and indirect taxes, which are paid by the Greek people.”
For this reason, Androulakis noted, PASOK presented a comprehensive plan of 17 institutional measures for all pensioners over the summer.
“Because this issue is deeply rooted in PASOK’s political identity. It is what our founder once said: ‘proud old age,’” he said, referring to Andreas Papandreou and the phrase he used for pensioners.
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Androulakis spoke about the difficult periods pensioners have gone through and the sacrifices they have made, stressing that “one would expect this enormous contribution to be recognized.”
“But what happened? First, the Tsipras-Kammenos government abolished EKAS, which is still an open demand. The personal difference remains in force through hidden loopholes. Auxiliary pensions remain frozen. The Solidarity Contribution still takes away part of the increases,” he said.
He added that “for seven years, New Democracy has fallen short of society’s needs. The prime minister promised to abolish the Katrougalos law, but he limits himself to patches and piecemeal allowances.”
“They promised you a lot, but they did very little. And we must remember this, so that we know the record of each party,” he noted.
PASOK’s Four Pledges
Androulakis said PASOK is committed to permanently restoring pensioners’ income and focused on four clear pledges.
“First: the 13th pension. PASOK will gradually bring back the 13th pension for all pensioners. Not as a one-off allowance. But as a pension,” he said, stressing that PASOK speaks in specific and costed terms.
He clarified: “In the first phase, from 2027, at an additional cost of 420 million euros. And in the third year of our term, with the measure fully implemented, at an additional cost of 840 million euros.”
“Second: a new EKAS. Abolishing EKAS was a deep social wound. Because EKAS was for the most vulnerable, the low-income pensioner. The person who is forced to choose which need to leave unmet,” he said, adding that PASOK is committed to “a new EKAS, with modern social criteria. For about 380,000 low-income pensioners, with an individual pension of up to 550 euros or up to 800 euros for a pensioner couple. The support will range from 50 to 180 euros every month. This is the new EKAS that PASOK guarantees. This means a welfare state for all citizens.”
“Third: the Pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution. There is an absurdity that must finally end,” Androulakis said, adding that “the government announces a pension increase and the pensioner expects to see it in their pocket. And suddenly they move into a higher bracket of the Solidarity Contribution and part of the increase disappears. They give to you from one pocket and take from the other.” He stressed that “this is not a real increase. It is deception.”
“That is why we are committed to gradually reforming the Pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution, reducing the burden by 20% in the first year of a PASOK government, with the goal of reducing it further in the following years.”
He concluded with the fourth: the personal difference. After accusing the government of misleading pensioners on the personal difference, he announced that PASOK’s commitments include its “full abolition, which means full abolition of its consequences. No asterisks. No ‘yes, but.’ No accounting tricks.”