Brazil’s Labor Defense Ministry (MPT) is acting to make it more difficult to hire Brazilian citizens to work as armed security guards abroad, following complaints that the Body Guard company was hiring private security guards to work in Iraq.
The move is also aimed at ensuring Brazilians’ safety. As a result, the Body Guard company and labor recruiter, Frank Guenter Salewski, appeared yesterday, February 22, before the Regional Labor Solicitor’s Office in São Paulo to sign two additional adjustment provisos concerning the hiring of Brazilians to work as security guards in Iraq.
Because there is no law preventing Brazilians from accepting foreign job offers, the contract repeats the labor guarantees stipulated in Brazilian law. These guarantees include security measures ensuring the protection of life, as well as life insurance.
Salewski, a German, declared that he will comply with these requirements. According to the MPT’s press office, spokesmen for the Body Guard company assured that they are specialists in security training.
A similar proviso was signed last week in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, with the TEES Brasil company.
According to denunciations published in the press, since the second half of 2004 over 500 Brazilians have already applied for these positions. Monthly salaries range from US$ 6.5 thousand (R$ 17 thousand) to US$ 8 thousand (R$ 20.9 thousand).
Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil