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TEXT E
First read the following question.
31. What is the most appropriate topic of the following passage?
A.Strikes.
B.Pensions.
C.Retirement Ages.
D.Government decisions.
Now go through TEXT E quickly and answer the question.
In addition to the national social security system, 17 special pension schemes are among the social advantages that government employees are not prepared to give up.
Under the national scheme, retirement is at the age of 65, whereas the special schemes offer retirement at 55 or even 50.
Most of the pension schemes are in the red and have to be topped up by the state. The total state contribution in 1994 was F125 billion ($ 25 billion).
The prime minister says he wants to keep the special schemes. There are three solutions for keeping them afloat: lengthening the contribution period, increasing contributions, or reducing the pensions paid out. The government chose the first solution in the plan that it announced on November 15. Private sector employees were required in 1993 to contribute for 40 instead of 37.5 years, in order to qualify for a full pension. State employees could still retire after 37.5 years service provided they had reached the age limit.
The prime minister's announcement touched off strikes on the railways, Paris's transport services and government departments. Facing increasing opposition to this proposal, the prime minister said on December 5 that working more years would no longer be a condition for reforming the special pension schemes.
A government commission that will examine pensions will, however, be free to propose changes in the retirement age in certain professions. But it will take into consideration the hardships involved in the work and the constraints of working hours.
At the moment, the minimum retirement age is 60-as in the private sector before 1983-for 65 percent of public service employees. It is 55, or even 50, for 35 per cent of employees considered to be doing work "involving special risks or exceptional fatigue".
Primary school teachers can retire at 55, but the limit for new, better qualified recruits is 60. Postal workers at sorting offices can retire at 55. The retiring age for police officers is 50, prison officers 50, nurses 55, and railwaymen 50 and 55 for others. The 30, 000 employees of the Paris Metro have an average retirement age of 53.
Two-thirds of the "active" employees and those working in conditions that can damage health in the public gas and electric utility retire at 55. Retirement age for notary s clerks is 55 for women, and 60 for men. For miners, retirement is at 55.
Comparing the national pension scheme and the special schemes is not easy, because state employees receive bonuses-some of them substantial-which are not included in calculating their contributions or their pensions.
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