Greek pensioners who have seen their rights diminish since the start of the economic crisis took to the streets against the latest round of pension cuts in Athens. The elderly shouted slogans protesting against slashes to their pensions outside the Labor Ministry in the Athens center at noon on Tuesday.
Following the shock caused by the reduction to their auxiliary pensions that, in some cases, are slashed by more than 50 percent, pensioners are calling for a return to all that has been taken from them. On Friday, about 150,000 pensioners saw their supplementary pensions halved whereas before this, 67,000 pensioners had seen significantly lower amounts in their checks in August and more cuts are expected in October.
State Social Security (IKA) Pension Federation Chief Dimos Koumbouris said that the pensioners are demanding that the money they have worked for and contributed to pension funds be returned to them. Many pensioners will receive minimal auxiliary pensions in October bearing in mind that there will be a retroactive application of slashes to pensions that have already been halved.
A delegation of representatives had a brief meeting with Labor Minister George Katrougalos, and said that the minister told them that he had “merely applied the law.”
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