José Carlos Bolognese
Dear Sirs at NYT,
I would like to contact Mr.
Larry Rohter, a journalist who lived in Brazil and knows more about this
country than the average Brazilian does. I and thousands of former employees of
the now extinct Varig Airlines (Mr. Rohter may have flown with Varig during his
time in Brazil) are under a tremendous injustice on the part of the current
rulers of Brazil. If only Mr. Rohter could write about the plight these workers
are going through it would, I am sure, raise awareness about how different is
what our government promises on the matters of human rights and what it
actually practices. Seven years after the airline ceased operations there
remains lots of unsettled workers rights cases, thus affecting profoundly their
private lives. Almost all of Varig employees were associated to Aerus, a
pension fund intended to replace part of the income a retiring person loses, if
only protected by the official retirement pension system (state pension which
is mandatory in Brazil) Since the “government” never really enforced the rules
governing complimentary pension funds, as Varig went bankrupt, so did Aerus. In
short, today retirees are paid only a fraction of their pensions, circa 10% of
what they should be paid monthly. Under such a dramatic scenario, four retired
flight attendants are campaigning through a HUNGER STRIKE for a week now at the
downtown airport, Santos Dumont in Rio. Other 27 (aged between 65/83 years)
occupy for a week also one of the lounges at the Brazilian House of
Representatives, in Brasília. All these extreme efforts are aimed at regaining
our status as full citizens for we are only asking for our pensions, meaning
that they are indispensable for a decent living and above all, the fact that
we´ve paid for it.
We need this story to be told
worldwide and one of the obstacles in Brazil is that our press and media – some
exceptions noted – don´t give a damn about us. As long as they get their heavy
sponsorships from Petrobrás, Banco do Brasil, Caixa etc. they´ll keep
practicing something they call journalism.
Thank you,
José Carlos Bolognese, Retired Flight attendant @ Varig Airlines,
Aug. 12, 2013
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Enquanto isso, o Lulla "comprou" uma coluna no NYT e exalta a sí próprio e aos últimos 10 anos de governo petista.
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