Nenets deputies want early retirement for chum workers

The deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug adopted a resolution to amend the federal law “On Pension Insurance” by proposing to add chum workers to the list of professions eligible for early retirement: people who work in the traditional longhouses of the indigenous peoples of the North. Currently, reindeer herders, hunters, and fishermen with a nomadic lifestyle are eligible for early retirement, with men retiring at age 50 and women at age 45. They must live in the Far North or in climatically similar conditions, and must have 25 and 20 years of work experience, respectively. The deputies who adopted the bill believe that chum workers live under conditions just as harsh as those of reindeer herders. The amendment will now proceed to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, which must approve the proposal for it to take effect.