Engineering syndicate approves proposals to salvage pension fund

AMMAN – The general assembly of the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) on Tuesday approved proposals presented by the syndicate’s council to amend the pension system. 

According to the association, 212 engineers voted in favour of the suggestions, while 170 rejected them. 

The proposals include raising premiums on four optional retirement segments, under which pensioners are entitled to receive JD200, JD280, JD400 and JD600 a month as pension salaries. Subscribers to the first two segments will have to pay double the amount they used to pay previously to JD8 a month and JD16 a month, according to JEA President Majid Tabbaa, who said that the plan was suggested in October 2015 in order to rescue the pension fund. No decision has yet been made regarding the other two categories.

The proposals have triggered disputes among JEA members over the past months. 

Tabbaa told The Jordan Times over the phone that the plan to raise the fees is part of a comprehensive strategy to balance the segments and the retirement pensions. 

He added the changes will not be applied on other benefits offered to the engineers, including maintaining the retirement age for men at 60 and women engineers at 55 years. 

Commenting on the accusations against the administration of the association, he said: “We have conducted studies involving 1,250 engineers and discussed the pros and cons of the decision before submitting it. All members are aware of the details of the suggestion, which has had its full share of discussions,” he added.

But Raed Haddadin, the vice president of the civil engineering unit at the JEA, said the raise does not solve the challenges facing Jordanian engineers.

He added that the fund reached its first breakeven point in 2012, instead of 2014, and that the raise on the segments is a result of “not planning for the future”.

The fund will reach its second breakeven point in 2016 instead of 2019, he said.

“In 2004, the JD600 and JD800 salary segments were targeted by the council’s decision of raising the premiums, which provided the fund with total revenues of JD48 million from registered engineers,” he told The Jordan Times.

According to an actuarial study conducted by the association, the third breakeven point is expected to be reached in 2024 instead of 2030.

The third level of the fund’s breakeven point is described by members as “the most dangerous level”, where the revenues would be equal to its expenditures.

“This [the decision] does not support our ambitions as engineers, it does not guarantee a safe future for our children and the future generation of engineers in Jordan,” Haddadin charged.

Tabbaa said the decision is to be submitted to the Legislation Bureau, the association’s central authority and the general assembly before it is implemented, expecting the implementation to be within a minimum of one year.