The protest was attended by more than a thousand people, representing various professions and industries. All of these workers carry out hard and demanding physical work, which cannot be continued up to the statutory pension age for health reasons. Amongst those demonstrating in Warsaw were miners, machinists, metallurgists, drivers and steelworkers. The bridging pensions were designed to look after the rights of such groups of workers, taking into account factors such as a worker’s age and the length of time that they have worked in these professions.
- People working in very difficult conditions, like my father who worked in a mining prefabrication plant, should have the right to take early retirement regardless of whether they started working before 1999 or not," commented the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) activist Katarzyna Duda, who was present at the demonstration.
The demonstrators argued that the current government is robbing them of their rightful entitlements. They want the legislation to be modified so that bridging pensions do not become a thing of the past, as currently only people who began working in these professions before 1999 are entitled to them. This therefore excludes large numbers of younger workers.
The demonstrators marched under the slogan: "No more excuses! We demand bridging pensions!". They handed their petition to the Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policy, Stanislaw Szwed, as Minister Marlena Maląg declined to meet them.
