Double vote on AHV
The federal referendum on March 3, 2024 will be devoted to the AHV, a recurring theme, but one that has a major impact on the entire population, including musicians.
On March 3, two initiatives will be submitted to the people and the cantons (since a double majority is required). They reflect two opposing visions of society: the first proposes the payment of a thirteenth AHV pension, similar to the thirteenth salary employees can receive, while the second wants to raise the retirement age.
Yes to a 13th AHV pension
Launched by the Swiss Union of Trade Unions (USS), to which the USDAM is affiliated, the first is based on the Confederation's financial outlook for the AHV, which will achieve an annual surplus of around 3 billion francs over the next few years. Contrary to the alarmist scenarios spread for years by employers and certain sectors of the economy, its assets will increase to CHF 67 billion by the end of the decade, which represents around CHF 20 billion more than today. Moreover, the natural and gradual disappearance of the baby-boom generation will help to stabilize the financial balance over the long term, as Geneva National Councillor Laurence Fehlmann Rielle pointed out during the debates in the Federal Chambers in December 2022. At a time when inflation, combined with rising rents and health insurance premiums, is causing retirees to lose the equivalent of a monthly pension by 2024, this 13e pension would undoubtedly bring relief to current and future pensioners. With an average monthly income of around CHF 1,800, the AHV is increasingly unable to fulfill its constitutional mandate of covering vital needs. No fewer than 200,000 pensioners are currently living on incomes below the poverty line, and a further 100,000 are just above it. Women are particularly affected, as a third of them receive only the first pillar. Acceptance of the USS initiative would benefit 90 % of the professionally active: in the AHV, all income classes participate and everyone benefits from direct pension improvements, especially women. The AHV is particularly important for women, as it takes unpaid work into account when setting pension levels. In the current context, it is all the more important to strengthen it, as the 2nd pillar has neither compensation for inflation nor a guaranteed level of benefits based on employee contributions.
The usual cost argument, brandished by the right-wing majority whenever a social improvement is on the horizon (an argument that suddenly disappears when it comes to granting generous tax breaks), is nothing new. As long ago as 1947, when the AVS was created, its opponents published a newspaper advertisement claiming that "the financing of the AVS will no longer be assured in twenty years' time". Despite these prophets of doom, the scheme developed and pensions were gradually increased over the following decades, with unanimous support from all parties. Unfortunately, the political consensus has since crumbled under the influence of brazen neoliberalism. Inconsistent or cynical, some are even proposing to reduce the federal government's contribution to financing the AHV scheme, while at the same time using the false pretext of the AHV's bankruptcy to reject the USS initiative. In reality, this proves that the threats and attempts at intimidation are based on nothing concrete. Retired people, including of course musicians who have not always been able to contribute to the 2e pillar, fully deserve this 13e which will enable many of them to get their heads above water.
No to raising the retirement age
Building on these unfounded fears about the sustainability of the AHV, the second initiative is the work of the Young Liberal-Radicals, who want to raise the retirement age to 66, and then continue to raise it in line with the increase in average life expectancy of the Swiss resident population at the age of 65. According to projections by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, this life expectancy is set to increase by more than two years by 2050. If we take into account the labor market, where people over 50 rarely find a job when they become unemployed, while companies are reluctant to train them for career changes, this initiative by the young guard of the liberal right seems far removed from the reality of the working world. These future lawyers, bankers or company directors seem to have little awareness of the fatigue of the more physically demanding professions or those requiring particular mastery. Keeping the same faculties, the same reactivity and the same quality of listening beyond the age of sixty is not possible for all musicians, and raising the reference age for receiving AHV would be problematic for a not inconsiderable proportion of them. High-income executives, on the other hand, will still be able to enjoy a very comfortable early retirement... Regarding the argument put forward by the project's supporters that increasing life expectancy will sooner or later lead to difficulties in financing the AHV, USS President Pierre-Yves Maillard pointed out during the 2020 parliamentary debates that, while the percentage of people over 65 has doubled since the AHV was introduced in 1947, the number of contributors has also doubled, the number of contributors has also doubled, since in the middle of the last century the vast majority of women were unpaid, their work consisting mainly of household, domestic and family tasks, whereas today most of them hold paid positions. The future of the AHV is therefore not in jeopardy, and there is no valid reason to increase the retirement age.
