The Engineers Association retirees have been experiencing a lack of pension payments since the start of this year, leading to financial difficulties for them.
In an interview with "Jordan Labor Watch," retiree Eng. Mohammad Al-Rifai disclosed that approximately 17,000 retirees have not received their pensions since the beginning of the year. The problem initially arose in November 2022 when retirees received only half of their payment for two consecutive months, following which the association abruptly halted all pension disbursements.
Al-Rifai emphasized that the average pension across different categories amounts to 280 JD, which means the association should be disbursing a monthly sum of at least 5 million JD in pension payments. However, they are currently only able to pay approximately two million JD due to liquidity issues.
The lack of liquidity is attributed to the elimination of mandatory subscriptions to the retiree fund. As a result, engineers have chosen to subscribe to social security instead of the retiree fund through the association.
The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) has been grappling with insufficient funds in the retirement fund for several years. In the previous year, the JEA's general assembly introduced amendments to the retirement system to address this issue.
These amendments involve gradually increasing the legal retirement age to 62 for males and 58 for females. Furthermore, there were proposals to eliminate certain categories that burden the fund and impose deduction rates of 10% on the salaries of retired non-practitioners and 50% on the salaries of retired practicing engineers.
The deduction rate is subject to review based on actuarial studies. Additionally, the amendments suggest extending the period of installment exemptions to two years for those who commit to payment.
Regarding compulsory subscriptions to the fund, the amendments suggest exempting young engineers and new graduates from mandatory subscriptions for the first five years after graduation.
Furthermore, the union has implemented austerity measures, including allocating 10% of the budget to support the pioneering projects of young engineers.
Despite repeated attempts to establish communication, Jordan Labor Watch has been unable to contact the association.
Please note that this summary is based on the information provided and may not encompass all the nuances of the situation.