The campaign for the Yes kicked off at an event held at the El Galpón theater in the capital, Montevideo, crowded with members of the union movement and social organizations.

The president of the central trade union PIT-CNT, Marcelo Abdala, spoke in favor of the three core measures proposed by the initiative, which has previously collected thousands of signatures to comply with a requirement from the Electoral Court.

Setting the retirement age at 60 years, eliminating the companies that manage and profit from the retirement and pension funds (AFAP), and equating minimum pensions to the national minimum wage, are proposals of ‘precautionary protective measures that place the human being at their core’, he said.

He stressed that the plebiscites, which coincides with national elections, entails a confrontation between an ‘ethic of privileges’ and an ‘ethic of human rights’.

He chastised what he defined as ‘subversion’ by those who oppose the survey, and rejected ‘technocratic’ approaches that ‘ultimately are covered by defamatory, sometimes arrogant veneer’.

Abdala questioned the social security reform approved by the government of Luis Lacalle Pou saying it is unethical and lacks in comprehensiveness.

The Trade Union president echoed calculations by the plebiscite’s promoters, who consider that ‘460 million dollars per year will be required’ and denied that individual savings will be eliminated.

“It’s a shame that such a rich country hosts so many poor children. This is a scourge that could be alleviated with the reform of the pension system”, he indicated.

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