Workers in some foreign US military bases They are not being paid during the shutdown: Employees at at least one base in Germany were directed to food pantries before local officials intervened.
However, active duty military personnel around the world continued to receive pay during the quarantine. financing to pay for them could run out later this month if no agreement is reached.
But local civilians working on overseas bases have already seen their salaries slashed, and thousands have gone without pay since longest closure in US history started almost six weeks ago.
IN largest US military base in EuropeOfficials directed local workers to food banks before German officials stepped in to cover the funding gap.
The list of support organizations on the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria closure guidance webpage included German food distribution charity Food for All, the Too Good to Go app, and Tafel Deutschland, which they described as an umbrella organization that “distributes food to people living in poverty through its more than 970 local food banks.” The listing was removed sometime Wednesday.
The Defense Department said the guidance was intended for foreign nationals working at the base, not for U.S. troops or U.S. military personnel.
A Pentagon spokesman told NBC News on Friday that the list “was created several weeks ago when the U.S. Army was concerned that its German employees might not receive pay” during the quarantine.
US soldiers and civilian employees “have access to several support programs at their bases,” the spokesman added. The soldiers were “actually paid in late October,” a U.S. Army Europe and Africa spokesman told NBC News.
The German government has intervened to pay the salaries of nearly 11,000 civilians who work on US military bases, the country's finance ministry said in a statement. According to the representative, the company expects to repay the debt after the end of the quarantine.
While some governments have stepped in to pay the bills, others have not, and employees Italy And Portugal work for free while the gridlock in Washington drags on.
“It’s an absurd situation because no one has the answers, no one feels responsible,” said Angelo Zaccaria, union coordinator at Aviano air base in northeastern Italy.
“This is having a dramatic impact on us Italian workers,” he told The Associated Press.
Compensation for local employees varies by country and is based on specific agreements the U.S. government has with each host nation, said Amber Kelly-Herard, public affairs representative for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
During the closure, local employees were required to continue performing their jobs in accordance with their employment contracts, Kelly-Herard said.
A Pentagon spokesman said: “We value the important contributions of our local national employees around the world.”
Linda Bilmes, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and an expert on public finance, said local residents who work as contractors on U.S. military bases are typically most at risk of losing wages.
She added that the U.S. government has always paid full-time employees in the past, but contractors weren't always covered, so some added extra fees to their contracts to cover potential disruptions in government funding.
“I doubt anyone expected such a long delay,” Bilmes said.
Sean Nevin, Andy Eckardt, Moshe Gaines And Laura Strickler contributed.
