Railway workers take to street against mandatory funded pension system (video)
Over 60 employees of the South Caucasus Railway CJSC are currently holding a protest outside the administrative building against the introduction of a mandatory funded pension system in Armenia. The group claims that contributions have been made from their salaries to the mandatory savings funds and demand that the administration pay back the money. The participants are carrying posters that read, “I am against the mandatory pension system.” On January 1, 2014 Armenia introduced a mandatory component of the funded pension system. The new law requires that Armenian citizens born after 1974 transfer five percent of their wages into special savings funds. The citizens can get the accumulated funds upon reaching retirement age and before this, the funds will be stored and managed in the respective companies. Opponents of the system have been carrying out various protests against the new law and believe that its mandatory nature violates the rights of citizens and is contrary to the constitution of Armenia, as well as fundamental human rights and freedoms.
