Russians take to the streets to protest privatization

[AnnInLa]

Russians take to the streets to protest the privatization of their social welfare system.
By Fred Weir

http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1997/

Russian Communists protest against the bill on the replacement of social benefits with cash compensation.

Moscow—While Americans debate the potential impact of Social Security privatization, Russians are already reacting to a sweeping overhaul of their system. The protest wave began in early January, when thousands of angry pensioners in several cities blockaded roads, occupied government buildings and scuffled with police over cancellation of their traditional welfare benefits. By late February, students, trade unionists and academics were rallying over a wider range of issues, and the five-year period of social calm, often credited to President Vladimir Putin’s strategy of “managed democracy,” was in shambles.

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The trigger was a new law that kicked in January 1, replacing a multitude of in-kind benefits enjoyed by Russia’s 30 million pensioners with a single cash payment. The canceled services included the right to ride free on public transport, discount medicines, access to no-cost health clinics, housing subsidies and a range of other privileges. Retirees, who took to the streets in rolling protests that were still going on in late February, complained that the compensation added to their pensions barely made up a fraction of what they’d lost.

The reform also impacted millions of others, notably disabled people who lost access to free wheelchairs, prosthetics and therapy, guaranteed since Soviet times.

Russian media reported on a spate of assaults by elderly passengers upon bus conductors who demanded fares, highlighting the rage felt by some at losing the right to ride for free. “Many older people will feel isolated now, like they can’t afford to travel to visit family and friends like they used to,” says Valentin Makarov, an 84-year-old World War II veteran.