XVIII GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SPANISH FEDERATION
Between May the 26th and May the 28th, the XVIII General Assembly of the Federation of Associations of Retired Staff and Pensioners of Spanish Affiliated Saving Banks was held in Valencia (Spain). The ceremony was held on the 27th in the headquarters of the Bancaja Foundation that hosted the event.
Sixty people were present, belonging to 14 Associations out of the 27 affiliated. Non-members were offered a program of cultural and play activities.
The President of the Federation, Maria Victoria Lopesino, opened the session, welcomed the people attending and thanked Bancaja for its help in the organization of this event in the town of Valencia. Then she started with the agenda agreed upon in the notice of the meeting.
The minutes of the previous assembly, held on March the 7th 2007 in Marbella, were approved unanimously. The General Secretary, Julio Barrera, presented the financial report, which was also approved. Then, the proposal to increase the subscription by 0,20 Euros for each member was submitted to vote. It was approved by 12 votes in favor, 1 vote against and 1 abstention.
The President let speak the President of the European Group, José Roberto López. He told the members of the audience that this year was the 15th birthday of the Group, and informed them that in the documents they received they would find a folder with a letter of the Group founder and first President, Mr. Fransisco M. Bernabeu Penalva. In this letter he declares that we should celebrate June the 29th, since the claims submitted at the creation of the Group are still topical questions and must not be forgotten. The above-mentioned folder relates the 15 years story of the Group life, the several changes and transformations that happened inside the Group and more particularly the creation of the European Working Group (GET). If they consider it necessary, the General Assemblies of each member country can submit their conclusions to the corresponding Minister.
The folder also contained the conclusions of the following assemblies: 2006, the Law about the Dependence in the Elderly Population; 2007, Durability of the pensions funding; and 2008, Health discrimination of the Elderly. He concluded by paying a simple but sincere tribute to the Group founder Mr. Francisco M. Bernabeu Penalva, and he thanked him for the great work he has done during the first years of the Group life. The members of the audience welcomed this tribute by a great applause.
The Assembly accepted the nomination, by the President of the Federation, of Luis Antonio Tena Orduña, President of the Association of Retired Staff from Bancaza, as Second Vicepresident; as well as the awarding of the gold insignia to: Mr. Antonio Segura Farre, Mr. Luis Antonio Tena Orduña, Mr. Ángel E. García Rubiales and Mr. Manuel Berzal Lobo. Mr. Miguel Angel Utrillas de Jáuregui, the manager of the BANCAJA Foundation, also received the gold insignia for his special collaboration in the organization of this event. The insignias were then delivered.
In the section dedicated to requests and questions, the possibility of calling on a Legal Service to defend the cases put in by the affiliated members was considered. Some people also asked for the cases to be submitted to the Federation through the member Associations. The proposal was approved and it will apply if a dispute happens, but not in a permanent way.
Once ended the agenda, the President of the CEOMA (“Confederación Española de Organizaciones de Mayores”, Spanish Confederation of Older People Organizations) – which gather more than 1.200.000 affiliated members- Mr. José Luís Meler y de Ugarte, declared that the union of all retired people from different professions is the only way, in times of crisis like now, to curb the politicians' will to use the funds assigned to pay the present and future pensions. The Assembly ended with the speech of Mr.José Manuel Pérez Gómez, ex- General Director of the Corporation Caja Madrid, who presented the conference “Attitude and behavior of the elderly in the society”. He affirmed that it is necessary to have positive attitudes, and that “getting older in good physical and intellectual conditions must be considered a real success”, and that we must make the most of our adaptation ability to cope with the new challenges of the modern society, in order to ensure the best quality of life to the elderly. He finally quoted the great Azorín: “Getting old is losing the curiosity for what surrounds us.”
To conclude, it was announced that steps had been taken for the next Assembly to be held in Sabadell, and Caixa Sabadell would welcome the event.
