"Does a tupamaro earn more than a rural laborer?": the question that Hay Otro Camino brought into the BPS election

Days before the BPS election, Gustavo Bermúdez, a member of Hay Otro Camino, asked the uncomfortable question: "Do you really think it's fair that a tupamaro receives a higher pension than a rural worker who worked their whole life?" He added: "In the realm of retirees, the only candidate brave enough to say it is Renaldo Borriero. List 5."

The Numbers

The Special Reparatory Pension (PER) has existed since 2006. Law 18.033 has been in effect since October of that year and compensates those affected for political, ideological, or union reasons. Today, the BPS grants it at 8.5 BPC, which is $58,344 monthly.

On the other side is the floor of the system. Until July, the minimum pension was $20,935. With the additional 2.5% paid in August, those living solely on the minimum reach $21,888.61. There are about 120,000 pensions in that situation.

The math is simple: the reparatory pension is equivalent to 2.7 minimum pensions. That's a difference of $36,455 every month between someone receiving under law 18.033 and someone who contributed for decades and is at the floor.

The Debate the BPS Avoids

The PER does not come from contributions: it is a non-contributory benefit paid by the same organization that tells minimum pensioners there is no money for more. ONAJPU itself demands raising the minimum to 4 BPC, about $27,456, and even then it would still be less than half of the reparatory pension.

This is the discussion that Hay Otro Camino wants to open regarding retirees: what the BPS pays, to whom, and with what priority.

What is Being Voted On

On November 22, nearly 2.2 million workers, retirees, pensioners, and business owners will vote to elect the three social representatives of the Board. Hay Otro Camino competes in all three categories: Borriero for retirees and pensioners (List 5), Lorena Roqueta for workers (List 15), and Jorge Fernández Pereyro for businesses (List 25).