Workers protest pension reform

Hundreds of Polish workers have gathered in front of the chancellery of the prime minister in Warsaw to protest against the government's plan to slash the number of workers entitled to early retirement.

The demonstration, which started around noon, has so far been peaceful with occasional shouts, whistle blowing and leaders giving speeches, unlike the one that took place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, trains were delayed as railway workers have also protested blocking the tracks in Bydgoszcz and Katowice.

Workers are protesting against a government plan, which was proposed in mid-October, to reduce the number of workers eligible to retire early from 1.2 million to 240,000. The reform would drop the annual expenditure on early retirement from zł.4-5 billion to zł.500-600 million.

Under the current law, workers would be able to retire just after 15 years of employment from 300 professions, however, the proposed law includes a list of 61 jobs entitled to early retirement either due to difficult working conditions or the nature of the job.

Lawmakers planned to vote on the retirement reform on Thursday. If passed, the new legislation would come into force from January 2009, however, President Lech Kaczyński needs to sign the bill and he's spoken negatively against the bill and has the ability to veto it. (AO)

Sources: TVN24, Reuters