Gian Marco Tognazzi: ‘After 40 years of work, INPS denies me my rights’

Rome, 14 October (LaPresse) – “Something incredible happened to me: once I reached 40 years of service (because before that, you retired after 40 years of work), I applied for my pension. It was rejected. Then a second time. Rejected. Then another. Rejected. The funny thing is that INPS rejected all these applications, giving a different reason each time, namely that a different number of daily contributions was required, which increased and then decreased inexplicably in the data they provided between one application and the next.” This is what Gianmarco Tognazzi, actor and spokesperson for Nuovo Imaie, told LaPresse about the campaign in defence of the pension rights that artists are claiming from INPS. Subsequently, the actor recounts, ‘I turned to a solicitor, who appealed, and the labour court recognised my right to a pension. Then INPS appealed this ruling, and the Court of Appeal also confirmed that I was entitled to a pension.” But the story, he explains, is not over: “INPS appealed to the Court of Cassation. And here comes the best part,” he adds. “They said that I was not entitled to a pension because only the years from 1 January to 31 December count towards the contributions we need. For us actors, it used to be 60, then 120, and from 2021 it has dropped to 90”. For Tognazzi, this is “very serious for many reasons. First, no law in the entertainment industry provides for this. Second, no pension law in general provides for this. Third, if a law provided for this, entire categories of workers, not only those in the entertainment industry but also seasonal or part-time workers, would never be entitled to a pension. And that would be unconstitutional”.