The greatest lift the voice against ageism: “We demand a society that respects and values us”
He International day of the elderly, That is celebrated this October 1, “it is not a Denunciation day, demand and ethical commitment with whom they built the present we inhabit. Far from receiving deserved recognition, people major we face realities of abandonment, discrimination and precariousness that directly question social conscience, institutional responsibility and Welfare status model “.
This is denounced by the union of retirees and UGT pensioners (@Ujp_ugt) and the State Federation of CCOO pensioners (@pensccoo), In a joint manifesto this October 1, in which they put white on black the peremptory needs of the elders: decent pensions, especially for women; care and attention to agency; quality and adapted housing; and eradicate ageism, A scourge that stuck people and cuts rights.
In his opinion, these are the “urgent and unplazable claims that must mark the public agenda of our group.”
Guarantee pensions and improve minimum
Pensions are more than an income: they are a right that guarantees sustenance, autonomy and dignity, unions underline, which highlight how the improvement achieved in the last pension reform agreed within the framework of the social dialogue has made it possible to minimal and non -contributory pensions, mostly perceived by women, have an automatic guarantee that plays them above the poverty threshold.
However, the gender gaps accumulated throughout working life continue to display enormous inequality and translate into lower and worse pensions than those of men. Therefore, They claim:
– The culmination of the effective application of the Sufficiency guarantee agreed in the pension reform of 2023, which has been applied since then and that must be completed in 2027. This guarantee is a structural revaluation of minimum pensions, that ensures a decent standard of living, placing them automatically above the threshold of relative or severe poverty, for contributory or non -contributory pensions.
– A system of Compensation of gender inequalities In the pensions that, inevitably respecting the recent judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, compensates for the unequal treatment that working women have historically received and the effect they have deployed on their contribution careers the care tasks.
– An intergenerational social security vision, which ensures the system sustainability, containing and reinforcing elements of equity, justice and redistribution.
Dependency: “Many older people die waiting”
The dependency care system should guarantee a dignified and autonomous life to the elderly With support needs, however, it is going through a deep crisis, they criticize UGT and CCOO.
They state that the paralysis of the increase in public financing initiated in the shock plan (2021-2023) agreed with trade union organizations, the growth of economic benefits to the detriment of professional services and the increase in benefits linked to a service that imply a Double co -payment of beneficiaries and their families They aggravate the situation of the “limbo of the agency”, in which tens of thousands of people recognized as dependents do not receive any provision or service. “Many die waiting,” for what they demand:
– Reactivation Immediate of state and regional public financing with criteria of equity and sufficiency, conditioned within the framework of a new shock plan that gives continuity to the previous one and is linked to concrete objectives for the development of the dependency care system.
– Elimination of limbo through agile, transparent and universal procedures.
– Deep review of the care model, prioritizing professional services and home care, community centers and the dignification of care work, mostly carried out by women.
Safe and accessible housing
Many older people live alone, in inadequate homes, without accessibility, in precarious rental or at risk of expulsion, and sometimes at risk of energy poverty, to which adds the fact that there are currently no intermediate housing alternatives between the traditional domicile and the residence.
The claims In this matter are these:
– National Housing Plan, that must guarantee access to social housing for the most vulnerable people and affordable housing for the whole population, with special attention to young people who must be able to emancipate themselves at the earliest ages of the current ones.
– Housing policy that guarantees the adequate adaptation of homes, their accessibility (ramps and elevators), as well as access to collaborative housing.
– Legal protection against evictions, also of vulnerable elderly.
– Network development friendly and accessible environments, with proximity services.
“Ageism kills,” report UGT and CCOO
Discrimination by age, or ageism, is a structural form of cultural and symbolic violence. Is manifested in the contempt, infantilization, invisibility and exclusion of the elderly in employment, health, media or public decisions.
For unions, “ageism is not just offensive: Kill, exclude and violate rights. “ In his unit manifesto, they reaffirm:
– Commitment to a Sintergenerational ociety, Inclusive and diverse, where the value of each person does not depend on their age.
– Active incorporation of the elderly in the participation spaces and public decision.
– Eradicate ageism in institutional language, Advertising and health care.
– One is urgent State Defense Law and guarantee of the rights of the elderly.
UGT and CCOO propose that Law recognizes the elderly as holders of full rights, Not as an assistance object. That specific legal defense mechanisms are established in situations of abuse, negligence or institutional abuse. And an integral strategy of active aging, social protection, citizen participation and health care is articulated.
Intergenerational commitment
From the federations of pensioners of CCOO and UGT, denounce the “false intergenerational conflict, that from certain economic and political sectors, try to create artificially to hide what is really a class conflict over the redistribution of wealth. Women and men pensioners we defend with the same firmness the right to a life worthy of all generations, youth and older. “
They also defend the right of all people to enjoy a state of full welfare with public quality and public policies equally ambitious, sustained all for fair and sufficient taxation.
