“Extend retirement age beyond 60? Are you out of your mind?”
This was the response by T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Devanand Sinanan to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar who is proposing to increase the retirement age if the People’s Partnership wins the general election.
In an interview yesterday, Sinanan said it was surprising that Persad-Bissessar made such an important announcement without consulting labour leaders, especially members of the Joint Trade Union Movement.
With many of his members calling him and saying “hell no” to the proposal, Sinanan said many teachers are burnt out after labouring 30-35 years in the service and would rather spend their latter days relaxing at home. He said the PM’s proposal was contrary to teachers’ requests made to the Chief Personnel Officer as they want the mandatory retirement age of 60 to be reduced to 55.
“The feedback I have been getting from our members who only heard it and called us is, ‘Hell No.’ They are not even willing to consider it because in the teaching service, it is quite the opposite. We have been bombarded by our membership for the last three sets of proposals we submitted to the CPO.
“We would have had a proposal for the reduction in the retirement age to 55. Teachers have been bombarding us to talk to the Government about reducing it from 60 to 55, not extending it because a lot of people after 30 to 35 years in the service are burnt out and want to go home,” Sinanan said.
Among the other implications of an increase retirement age would be changes to the public service regulations. He said from a teacher’s perspective, there is already an arrangement where they can choose to leave the service between the ages of 50 and 55, once the permanent secretary grants permission. Some teachers are allowed early retirement between ages 55 and 60. At 60 years old retirement is mandatory.
“That is what the public service regulation says so that if you are talking about adjusting the retirement age, you are also talking about adjustments in the public service regulations.”
He said it also hinders the progression of young people in the workplace and the creation of more jobs.
He said while they admit that some professionals have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be valuable to the country, there are ways to pass on those benefits.
“Why are you keeping on persons beyond the age of 60 when you have so many people who are unemployed out there? You would want people to exit the system so that they can make way for younger ones to come up the ladder. You would want to create employment opportunities for young people,” Sinanan said.
“While we do accept the fact that yes, there are certain people who would have acquired a certain amount of experience and knowledge but there are ways in which you can obtain the benefit of the wisdom, knowledge and experience without having to introduce mandatory laws or adjusting the retirement age,” he added.