US government shutdown forces some overseas bases to stop paying workers

MADRID AP The longest U S ruling body shutdown on record is doing more than grind sessions to a halt at home an ocean away in Europe local workers at U S military bases have started to feel the pain At least people working at overseas bases in Europe have had their salaries interrupted since the shutdown began almost six weeks ago In a few cases governments hosting the U S bases have stepped in to foot the bill expecting the United States to eventually make good In others including in Italy and Portugal workers have only kept working unpaid as the gridlock in Washington drags on It s an absurd situation because nobody has responses nobody feels responsible commented Angelo Zaccaria a union coordinator at the Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy This is having dramatic effects on us Italian workers he reported The Associated Press An array of needed jobs The jobs foreign nationals do at U S bases around the world range from food organization construction logistics maintenance and other more specialized roles In specific cases foreign workers are employed by private companies contracted by the U S leadership while others are direct hires How local employees are paid varies by country and is based on specific agreements the U S regime has with each host nation explained Amber Kelly-Herard a general affairs spokesperson for the U S Air Forces in Europe and Africa During the shutdown Kelly-Herard mentioned local employees were expected to continue to perform their jobs in accordance with their work contracts The AP reached out to the Pentagon with multiple questions on the pay disruption but was only provided a brief comment that did not acknowledge it We value the central contributions of our local national employees around the world it mentioned The official declined to answer any follow-up questions American bases feeling the pinch overseas In Germany the administration has stepped in to pay the salaries of nearly civilian employees that work on U S military bases the nation s finance ministry commented in a declaration American facilities in Germany include the Ramstein Air Base a critical hub for operations in the Mideast and Africa and headquarters to the U S Air Forces in Europe and Africa Workers in other countries have not been so fortunate More than Italian nationals work at the five U S bases in Italy disclosed union coordinator Zaccaria Of those over local employees at U S bases in Aviano and Vicenza and another workers at a base in Livorno have not received their salaries since the shutdown began We are waiting for urgent responses as there are workers struggling to pay their mortgages to endorsement their children or even to pay the fuel to come to work Zaccaria commented He stated the union had requested the Italian leadership to intervene but that in the meantime those affected were continuing to show up to work Unfortunately we see no political will to solve this situation but we re asking the Italian executive to intervene he explained In Portugal a similar situation was playing out at the Lajes Field base in the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean where more than Portuguese workers have not been paid according to Paula Terra head of the Lajes base workers committee Terra stated unpaid staff are still turning up because furloughs aren t legally recognized in a U S -Portugal agreement on the base Staying away could leave them open to disciplinary proceedings she added But this week the Azores Islands regional regime approved a bank loan to pay the Portuguese workers at the base in the interim Terra revealed she was waiting to hear when workers could claim the money Germany is counting on being repaid once the shutdown ends the finance ministry s spokesperson described the AP adding that during previous shutdowns civilians were paid by the U S executive The governments of Poland Lithuania and Greenland did not respond to a request for comment from the AP about whether they too have also stepped in to pay local workers Bulk vulnerable at-risk workers Linda Bilmes a professor of inhabitants program at the Harvard Kennedy School and an expert on population finance reported local workers at U S military bases who work as contractors are generally preponderance at-risk of losing pay during U S governing body shutdowns She added that the U S executive in the past inevitably paid back full-time employees including those working at overseas facilities who may be foreign nationals but that contractors are not perpetually covered which is why several add extra fees in their contracts to cover prospective cabinet funding stoppages But I doubt anyone anticipated this length of delay Bilmes noted In Spain where the U S operates the Moron and Rota military bases in the south a union representing more than Spanish workers mentioned a delay in payments had been resolved last month with the help of the Spanish ruling body Spain s defense ministry did not respond to multiple requests seeking to confirm its involvement in resolving the pay issue Associated Press journalists Konstantin Toropin in Washington Barry Hatton and Helena Alves in Lisbon Portugal Giada Zampano in Rome and Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this document