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Part VII (Miscellaneous provisions), Article 42 (in relation to Article 15, paragraph 3). In answer to the Committee's previous comments on the lowering of the retirement age for categories of workers engaged in arduous or unhealthy work, the Government confirms that the Federal Council, as part of the tenth revision of the Old-Age and Survivor's Insurance (AVS), plans to allow men to claim old-age pension three years before the statutory retirement age if they accept a 6.8 per cent reduction for each of the three years. Men wishing to avail themselves of this possibility - such as those who have worked in arduous or unhealthy occupations - could therefore start to claim old-age pension at age 62 at the earliest. Referring to the observations made previously by the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (USS) alleging that this proposal would lead to a breach of Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention if it came into effect, the Government indicates that in view of the current status of the parliamentary debates on the tenth revision of the AVS, it is too early to come to any conclusion on this point as it is not certain that the Federal Council's proposal, which has already been amended by the National Council, will not undergo further amendment before final adoption by the Chambers. In view of this fact, the Government considers that Article 15 of the Convention requires national laws prescribing a minimum age of 65 for entitlement to old-age pension to lower the minimum age for persons who were engaged in arduous or unhealthy work, but does not specify at what age such persons should be able to claim their entitlements; in other words, legislation which grants old-age pension from the age of 64 years does not come under this provision. In the Government's view, in order to meet also the requirements of Article 18 of the Convention, it would be sufficient for men who receive old-age pension as of age 64 to receive an amount equal to at least 45 per cent of the last wage of a skilled manual male worker as defined in the Convention. The Government is aware that its legislation does not meet the obligations of Article 15, but at present the legislation sets a different retirement age for men and women and so it is not easy to introduce a provision whereby only men who were employed in arduous or unhealthy jobs may receive their old-age pension earlier.

The Committee takes note of this information. It would like to remind the Government that the purpose of this provision of the Convention, which was noted as being of social importance during the preparatory work, is to establish more advantageous social protection for categories of workers whose working conditions are arduous or unhealthy. The discretionary power which States enjoy under paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the Convention should be exercised in keeping with the purpose of this provision and in good faith. In these circumstances, the Committee is bound to express once again the hope that the Government's next report will contain detailed information, in accordance with Article 42, paragraph 2, of the Convention on any progress made in the adoption of measures to ensure that, in practice, workers engaged in arduous or unhealthy jobs may receive old-age pension before the statutory age of retirement. It also hopes that any reductions in pension in the event of early retirement will not affect the application of Articles 17 and 18 of the Convention as concerns this category of workers.