One of the meeting’s participants, a former professional soldier, raised an issue painful for many veterans. The man explained that he had left the military on an early pension and then taken a civilian job. Although he regularly pays pension and disability insurance contributions to ZUS, he has no chance of receiving a second pension.
“If ZUS has no intention of paying us anything, then why do they take these contributions from us at all?” he asked.
As he explained, the problem concerns soldiers who served before 1999. The Constitutional Tribunal ruled that those who began their service after 1999 may apply for a second pension. Those who served earlier may not. Despite this, they continue to pay contributions.
“I know some colleagues. One has had almost one million zlotys paid into ZUS, another more than half a million. Under the law, the Polish state is robbing Polish citizens,” the resident explained.
The man argued that if the state does not want to pay a second pension, it should either exempt former soldiers from paying contributions or grant them genuine pension entitlements.
“I will put it this way: this is indeed a problem known to us, because it has been raised for many years,” replied Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. “This is an interministerial issue. Dialogue between the ministry responsible for the pension system, the Ministry of National Defence and, of course, the Ministry of Finance is under way, and we are on the right track to develop a solution in one direction or the other. But it must be balanced so that, on the one hand, it does not trigger a crisis in the Social Insurance Fund or on the fiscal and financial side, and, on the other, does not provoke unjustified and unfair public anger towards this group, so that it is not perceived as particularly privileged because of the level of its benefits. And this is a discussion that must include more elements: issues related to the pension entitlements of uniformed services and military personnel, and the timing of moving to those entitlements. It is simply a more systemic change. But this discussion, this dialogue, is ongoing. It is also taking place among politicians from The Left. Sebastian Gajewski from The Left is responsible for this area at the Ministry of Labour. At the Ministry of National Defence, Minister Stanisław Wziątek is involved, while at the Ministry of the Interior and Administration, Minister Wiesław Szczepański is involved. So this is an area of our work and our interest,” the minister explained.