LIDO. He pays the ransom for his degree, but has lost his job in the meantime. And the Fornero reform takes away his pension. A double rip-off, the one suffered by Piero Lando, a very particular "exodus" who saw not only his retirement fade, but also the possibility of building a future for himself. After having disbursed 57,000 euros to INPS to redeem the degree. «I feel robbed by the state», says Lando, a past as a basketball player, a scientific informant who was left out of work due to the GSK spa crisis, «at least they laughed at me, I could live a few years waiting for retirement, facing the economic vacuum with the dignity that a life of work deserves". Lando, 58, is a Lido researcher and a history buff. His research on the World War and the episodes that had concerned the lagoon and the city of Venice.
Leapt into the headlines ten years ago, when he made the Atlantic crossing alone aboard a small sailboat, Lando learned of his non-retirement from the newspapers. «It's not so much a question of postponing the five-year pension, that has happened to many other Italians», says Lando, «what burns is that they have been deceived. In short, the State told me: if you pay the ransom with voluntary contributions you can retire in 2014. Instead they kept the money and I won't see the pension before 2020. Because I no longer have a job I can't have hope of reach 42 years of contributions for the old age pension. I will have to wait until 2020 for the old age pension ». The real joke, continues the researcher, is therefore that in addition to taking the pension, the State has pocketed its money well in advance. Advance payment, and when you have the goods, nothing to do. "I really feel cheated by my government, and I ask that at least while waiting to know my fate, the state can give me back my money that it has unduly pocketed".
So Piero Lando took pen and paper and wrote a letter to Welfare Minister Fornero telling his story. "Tell yourself if this is a right solution, if to save the country you have to extend your working life and also pocket the money from contributions which you can't use afterwards".
«I ask that your reform», concludes the former scientific informant, «also take into account cases like mine, which I know are by no means isolated. In short, to repay the sums unduly collected, the five years of voluntary contributions for the redemption of the degree. A solution like this would perhaps leave a bad taste in my mouth, but it would be the least the government could do to restore some dignity to those who have worked honestly for a lifetime".
