Brasília, March 4, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The government is studying measures to help workers who lost their jobs through the closing of bingo parlors in the country. The Minister of Labor and Employment, Ricardo Berzoini, informed that various measures, such as unemployment insurance and professional retraining programs, are being prepared to help these workers.

The Minister said that he wants to present the set of measures to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by next week. "We are concerned about the situation of the workers. We are analyzing what can be done based on already existing laws and what can eventually be changed in the legislation," he said.

To find out how many workers may be benefitted by the measures, the Minister asked employers for information to check against the Ministry of Labor's records. According to him, it is difficult to identify workers who acted in a sector outside the law. "Many bingos operated informally or with a legal basis different from the purpose for which they functioned," he explained. (DAS)