Sunday, September 2, 2018

"Hет" to reform: Thousands rallied against pension reform in Moscow (Photos)

The Communist Party (CPRF) demonstration in Moscow.
Thousands of people of every age demonstrated on Sunday 2 September in Moscow and other major cities in Russia against the proposed governmental reform which rises in retirement age limits. 

Several thousand workers gathered in central Moscow in a large rally organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, while similar protests were reported in Novosibirsk, Simferopol, Vladivostok and other urban centers. 

"The reform that the government offers deprives our women of a normal pension. This reform doesn't give our youth the chance to get a good job," the CPRF chairman Gennady Zyuganov said at the Moscow rally.

The governmental bill proposes the raising of the men's pension age from 60 to 65 and from women to 60 (after an intervention by President Putin himself). 

However, there is mounting opposition to such a measure as long as younger people fear that keeping older people in the workforce longer will shrink job opportunities for them. At the same time, given the average life expetancy in the country, older people complain they may not live long enough to collect significant benefits.

See photos from the demonstration