The German trade union federation firmly rejects raising the retirement age to 70 years. "A clear no to retirement at 70 - it is nothing more than a pension cut with an announcement," said DGB board member Anja Piel on Monday. Many employees would already no longer be able to "stay healthy until retirement," she said.
Piel was reacting to statements by the President of the employers' association, Stefan Wolf, who spoke out in favor of a longer working life in an interview with the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). "If you look at the demographic development and the burden on social security and pension funds, then the reserves have been used up. We will have to work longer and more," said Wolf. "We will gradually have to go up to the retirement age of 70 - also because people are living longer." Otherwise, the system will no longer be financially viable in the medium term, explained the overall metal boss.
DGB: Financing the pension is a question of distribution
DGB board member Piel, on the other hand, warned against further increasing the entry age. "For those who work in care, construction or factories, working long hours is not an option." Anyone who works hard already has a "significantly lower life expectancy" and therefore also receives a shorter pension, explained Piel. The financing of the pension is a question of distribution. Even with an aging society, the federal government is responsible "to set a good and sufficient pension as a promise of security" - without higher age limits or shorter pensions, argued Piel.
According to the current legal situation, the age limit for the pension will be gradually raised from 65 to 67 years without deductions until 2029. Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) rejects a further increase. As early as May, after a push by economists to retire at 70, he said: "We have agreed in the coalition that we will not raise the statutory retirement age. And that will not change."
