Municipal and construction: The Tidö government is preparing to dismantle the security pension
This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the opinions expressed in the text, not Aftonbladet.
Published 2024-02-21 06.00
share-arrowDela
unsaveSpara
expand-left
full screen The previous S government introduced the security pension which enables elderly people seeking sickness benefits to receive a milder work test. Now we fear that the government is opening up to abolishing the reform, writes Kommunal och Byggnads. Photo: Terese Perman, TT (Montage)
DEBATE. Anyone who contributed to building Sweden and worked a long and tiring working life should not be forced to live in poverty.
After pressure from Municipal and Building, the previous social democratic government introduced the security pension. It makes it possible for older people who apply for sickness benefit to receive a milder work test. For those who have a maximum of five years left until retirement age, the ability to work must be tested against the jobs they have had in the last 15 years, not against the entire labor market.
The aim was to contribute to more dignified conditions for people who perform society’s heaviest jobs. It is about construction workers who assembled, drilled and lifted in all kinds of weather. Nurses who ensure care and concern for the elderly and sick. A job that wears on the body.
Now we fear that the Tidö government is about to turn its back on them and tear up the reform. Municipal and Building cannot accept it. The security pension must remain. Everyone has the right to a secure pension, even if the body can’t take it all the way.
Last year, the retirement age was raised to 67, and further increases will take place in the future. But far from everyone manages to work all the way to retirement. Too few colleagues, high workload, tight schedules and heavy lifting. It is an all-too-ordinary everyday life for members of Municipal and Building.
In a survey carried out by Municipal, where 63,000 people participated, seven out of ten members say they are worried that they will not be able to work until retirement age. Among assistant nurses in elderly care, a whopping 77 percent stated that they were worried about not being able to work all the way through.
The security pension has had an effect since it was introduced in September 2022. More elderly and worn-out people have received sickness benefits, and the increase is particularly noticeable for those with wear-and-tear injuries and physically demanding occupations. More also receive compensation for mental health diagnoses.
But last year, the government decided on additional directives to the investigation that evaluates the improvements made to health insurance. The directive means that the government is opening up to abolishing the security pension and smashing several important parts of the social insurance system that are still functioning.
The investigation is to be presented in March 2024, and there is therefore a risk that the security pension will be dismantled before it has barely started working.
It is perhaps not particularly unexpected that Ulf Kristersson ends up in his old political ruts. When he was Minister of Social Security in Reinfeldt’s government, in the years 2010-2014, thousands of people who suffered illness due to their work were insured. In the wake of the financial crisis, he slimmed down the security systems for vulnerable groups in the labor market.
Now the Tidö government is implementing cuts in the unemployment fund, in the midst of a burning recession, and there are many indications that the security pension will also collapse. Security systems are under attack again.
The Prime Minister may have difficulty understanding what life looks like for those who carry out society’s heaviest work. That many times there is a complete lack of opportunities to influence one’s work environment and recovery.
We feel we have to ask these questions, because the Tidö government signals anything but understanding for ordinary people. Does Ulf Kristersson think that the people who built our country and welfare should be thrown into poverty when their health begins to fail? That a 64-year-old with chronic pain should look for a different type of job?
Before the investigation is to be presented, Municipal and Building want to be clear again: Cutting the security systems would be an insult to those who ensure Swedish welfare or build our homes.
Malin Ragnegård, Chairman, Municipal
Johan Lindholm, Chairman, Building
arrow Join the debate and comment on the article – like Aftonbladet Debatt on Facebook.