Swiss voters should be able to vote on the introduction of a 13th AHV pension.
According to the Swiss Union of Trade Unions (USS), the necessary signatures for the popular initiative have been collected.
The initiative “Pour mieux vivre à la retraite” (popular initiative for a 13th AHV pension) calls for an amendment to the Federal Constitution: recipients of an old-age pension should be entitled to an annual supplement equivalent to a 13th monthly pension.
The law must guarantee that the annual supplement does not lead to a reduction in supplementary benefits, nor to the loss of entitlement to these benefits.
To finance the costs of the initiative, estimated at around 3.5 billion francs a year, the unions are proposing to use the profits of the Swiss National Bank. According to the authors of the text, the minimum AHV pension would increase from 1,185 to 1,284 francs per month (+99 francs), and the maximum pension from 2,370 to 2,567 francs (+197 francs).
