Lagun-Aro EPSV’S General Assembly agrees to improve early retirement benefits and the employment aid fund

Lagun-Aro EPSV’s Extraordinary General Assembly, held this morning at the Kursaal Palace in San Sebastian, gave majority backing to the proposals put forward by its Board of Directors regarding the provident society’s provision for Employment Aid.

The proposals are designed as a speedy response to the needs arising from Fagor Electrodomésticos’ bankruptcy proceedings, and consist of the following measures:

• Amendment of some aspects of the Lagun-Aro EPSV Employment Aid regulation, particularly early retirement benefits, which will be increased for cooperatives involved in a wind-up process. This decision will allow the affected worker-members to opt for early retirement at 55 with an 80% consumption advance benefit rather than the 60% determined to date. It will apply to around 300 members.
• Income reinforcement allowing the entity to meet the cost of the new commitments, with the corresponding increase in provisions paid by the cooperatives, which will be introduced from 1 January 2014.The impact of the increased provision for Employment Aid, which is partially set off by adjustments made to payments for other benefits, amounts to 1.5% of the annual wage.

These two aspects of the Employment Aid were debated in detail at the Extraordinary General Assembly, as this contribution is affected by the current situation at Fagor Electrodomésticos.

However, the situation has no impact on the entity’s pension system, financed by a specific capitalisation mechanism (fund accumulation) which is independent from the other contributions and therefore unaffected.

The step taken at this morning’s meeting complements other advances being made by the cooperatives themselves, who are firmly committed to relocating unemployed worker members, and consolidates the values of solidarity, cooperation and responsibility, all fundamental values of the cooperative movement.

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