In a move that pensioners rights group Avivo called “a historic victory for retirees,” Swiss voters on Sunday voted to boost their pension by one-month’s payment.
At the same time, voters rejected a measure to raise the retirement age from 65 to 66. The vote marks the first time in Switzerland’s history that its people have voted directly to increase their own benefits, and one expert said the break with the past could be a response to the government bailout of Credit Suisse in 2023.
“Many think that the entrepreneurs and managers have broken the unwritten Swiss social contract: That managers are modest with bonuses and debauchery and the people are modest with social demands,” Michael Hermann, who leads the Sotomo poll, told newspaper SonntagsZeitung. “People have been angry for a long time about the behavior of corporations, managers, tax evaders. So you often hear now: ‘If they help themselves, then we also want something for us.'”
The pension plan measure will see pensioners receive a 13th payment every November, as is already the case for Swiss paychecks, as BBC News explained. Currently, pensioners are paid between $1,393 and $2,760........