Retired teachers: in just 7 months they accumulate a loss of 23%

So far this year, the 163,833 national teachers accumulate a loss of 23%. They received a 9.38% increase in March. They have not had any increase in April, May and June and will not have it in July in the face of inflation until the end of the month it is estimated in 7 months of the order of 42%.

The teachers’ pension system provides for six-monthly increases in the months of March and September. However, due to very high inflation, last year’s March 2022 increase was brought forward to December and the same pattern was expected to repeat in June, with a quarterly increase in June, for what they would match in September. .

From the payment of salaries in July, which ANSeS advances every month, It appears that retired teachers will collect their salaries by July, with no raise or advance, at the same values ​​for March, April, May and June. And that they will have to wait until September to receive the increase in their assets.

With these levels of inflation, this year around September, the actual decline in these activities can be more than 35%.

Teacher retirements have long been in the sights of the IMF and the government.

As soon as Alberto Fernández took office, in the Emergency Law, together with the authorization of increases by decree differentiated by salary range, it was established that “the national Executive Power will convene an integrated commission (….) so that within 180 days examines the economic, financial and actuarial sustainability and proposes to the National Congress the changes it deems relevant regarding the mobility or updating of special regimes (…) and any other similar rule that corresponds to a special, contributory or non-contributory scheme, in accordance with the regulations.

However, due to the opposition of the unions linked to the special regimes, this Commission was never established. Meanwhile, the differentiated increases by decree resulted in a decline in the purchasing power of average and higher pensions and pensions up to 8.9 points in 2020.

For its part, in this year’s agreement with the IMF, the government agreed to review the special regimes. Given the reaction provoked by this commitment among teachers, President Alberto Fernández had to make it clear that he did not agree with the Fund to study teachers’ pension schemes. “What we are talking about are special privilege regimes, in which basically there are ambassadors and judges. We did something with the judges, but we should go further. The same with the ambassadors, ”the President said.

However, last month, the IMF reiterated that the government does not grant hikes or bonuses to retirees apart from those corresponding to the mobility of each pension scheme.

Thus, retired teachers accumulate, from head to toe, in four and a half years – from 2018 to July 2022 – a loss of almost 40% compared to the increase in prices, increasing the sharp decline of 2018/2019.

The sequence was:

• In 2018, retired teachers received two increases totaling 22.3%, compared with inflation of 47.6%, a decline of 17.1%.
• In 2019, the increase was 49.3% and inflation was 53.8%. A loss of 2.9%.
• In 2020 there was a partial recovery: the increase in teachers was 40.8% against an inflation of 36.1%, an improvement of 3.4%.
• In 2021, with the advance of December, the increase was 50.6% against an inflation of 50.9%, a decrease of 0.3 points.
• In 2022: in July the loss is 23%.

The differentiated increases for teachers are due to the fact that the sector pension law provides that active workers contribute two points more (13% of the salary) and they retire with 82% mobility corresponding to the position they had in business.

To determine the increases for pensioners, the Social Secretariat calculates the six-monthly change in the salaries of active teachers with contributions to ANSES, the so-called “Average Teacher Taxable Remuneration” (RIPDOC).

For teacher retirement, 82% of mobile devices apply. Women retire at 57 and men at 60, if they have been at the head of students for at least 10 years.

YN