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'No money to pay for fuel, mortgages': Overseas workers unpaid for weeks amid US shutdown
“It’s an absurd situation because nobody has responses, nobody feels responsible,” a union coordinator at a US air base in Italy said.
The United States government shutdown, the country's longest on record, is not just affecting workers in America, but has also been a challenge for local workers at US military bases, specifically in Europe.
In Italy, more than 4,600 Italian nationals work at the five US bases located in the country. Among these, over 900 local employees working in US bases in Aviano and Vicenza, and 400 workers at a base in Livorno have not been paid since the shutdown began, the Associated Press reported.
“….There are workers struggling to pay their mortgages, to support their children or even to pay the fuel to come to work,” Angelo Zaccaria, a union coordinator at the Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy said. Zaccaria added that they the employees at the base are waiting for “urgent responses.”
While saying that there seemed to be no “political will to solve this situation”, Zaccaria said the workers are appealing to the Italian government to intervene.
“It’s an absurd situation because nobody has responses, nobody feels responsible,” AP quoted Zaccaria as saying. Zaccaria added that the situation was having “dramatic effects” on Italian workers.
Some governments hosting US bases covering workers' salaries
In some cases, the governments hosting US air bases have stepped in to foot the bill and cover the salaries of the workers, hoping the US will eventually make good.
However, others, including Italy and Portugal, have kept workers unpaid as the US shutdown continues.
Among the countries covering the workers' salaries is Germany, which paid off the salaries of nearly 11,000 civilian employees working on US bases, the nation's finance ministry said, according to AP.
American facilities located in Germany include the Ramstein Air Base, which serves as a key US hub for operations in the Mideast and Africa, and is also the headquarters to the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
The German finance ministry's spokesperson said the country was counting on being repaid after the shutdown. The spokesperson told AP that during the past shutdowns, civilians had been paid by the US government.
What are the jobs foreign nationals work at US bases?
The locals work a range of jobs at the US air bases around the world, including construction, maintenance, logistics and food service among other specialised roles.
The locals are either hired by a private company delegated the task to do so by the US government, or hired directly. The payment for the local employees depends on the country and is based on specific agreements made by the US with host nations, AP quoted Amber Kelly-Herard, a public affairs spokesperson for US Air Forces in Europe and Africa, as saying.
Kelly-Herard said the local hires were expected to perform their jobs in accordance to their work contracts during the shutdown. When asked about the pay disruption by AP, the Pentagon, in a brief statement, said, “We value the important contributions of our local national employees around the world.”
