Luis Ortiga, a retiree who, after a working life of more than 45 years, has seen how his pension has been cut forever due to the reducing coefficients of Social Security. His testimony, shared through the ASJUBI40 collective, denounces a situation that he calls “lack of dignity” and “modern slavery.”
The cost of a forced withdrawal
Luis did not choose to stop working; He was forced to take involuntary early retirement at age 61, four years before his ordinary age. The result has been a 24% penalty based on your pension.
“This is not a strange situation, it is the most normal thing in our group,” explains Ortiga. And the figures prove him right: according to data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, in 2025 almost 28% of new retirements have been early (about 49,985 people), many of them facing losses that can even reach 30%.
48-hour days and a “discriminatory” retirement
The Ortiga case shows a generation that built the country under conditions that would be illegal today. He started working when he was just 14 or 15 years old, working marathon days of up to 48 hours a week. “Today that would be considered slavery,” he says.
Their main complaint lies in the comparison with other sectors. It denounces the existence of up to eight special regimes, in addition to the State Passive Classes, which allow people to retire at age 59 or 60 with 100% of the pension after only 35 years of contributions.
“It is an issue that is not about cost, it is about equity and dignity”
For Luis Ortiga, the solution is the creation of a new special regime for people with long contributions careers. His argument is not based on the economic cost to the State, but on social justice. “Why can’t those of us who have contributed most to the economic well-being of this country retire early with a full pension?” he asks.
The demand from groups such as AsJubi 40 continues to put pressure on Social Security to recognize the efforts of those who began contributing as children. For them, it is not just a question of numbers, it is a question of equity and dignity after almost half a century of effort.