US govt shutdown forces some overseas bases to stop paying workers
Madrid (AP): The longest US government shutdown on record is doing more than grind activities to a halt at home; an ocean away in Europe, local workers at US military bases have started to feel the pain.
Thousands of people working at overseas bases in Europe have had their salaries interrupted since the shutdown began almost six weeks ago. In some cases, governments hosting the US bases have stepped in to foot the bill, expecting the United States to eventually make good. In others, including in Italy and Portugal, people have simply kept working unpaid as the gridlock in Washington drags on.
“It's an absurd situation because nobody has responses, nobody feels responsible,” said Angelo Zaccaria, a union coordinator at the Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy.
“This is having dramatic effects on us Italian workers,” he told The Associated Press.
An array of needed jobs
The jobs foreign nationals do at US bases around the world range from food service, construction, logistics, maintenance and other, more specialized roles. In some cases, foreign workers are employed by private companies contracted by the US government while others are direct hires.
How local employees are paid varies by country and is based on specific agreements the US government has with each host nation, said Amber Kelly-Herard, a public affairs spokesperson for the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
During the shutdown, Kelly-Herard said 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 statement that did not acknowledge it.
“We value the important contributions of our local national employees around the world,” it said. The official declined to answer any follow-up questions.
American bases feeling the pinch overseas
In Germany, the government has stepped in to pay the salaries of nearly 11,000 local employees that work on US military bases, the nation's finance ministry said in a statement. American facilities in Germany include the Ramstein Air Base, a critical hub for operations in the Mideast and Africa and headquarters to the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
Workers in other countries have not been so fortunate.
More than 4,600 Italian nationals work at the five US bases in Italy, said union coordinator Zaccaria. Of those, about 2,000 workers — mostly at bases in Aviano and Vicenza — were not paid in October, Italy's foreign ministry said Saturday.
The ministry said in a statement it had discussed the issue with US officials, and that the US Army and Air Force were in talks with the Pentagon about using their own funds to pay the salaries of Italian workers.
“There are workers struggling to pay their mortgages, to support their children or even to pay the fuel to come to work,” Zaccaria said.
In Portugal, a similar situation was playing out at the Lajes Field base in the Azores archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, where more than 360 Portuguese workers have not been paid, according to Paula Terra, head of the Lajes base workers' committee.
Terra said unpaid staff are still turning up because furloughs aren't legally recognized in a US-Portugal agreement on the base. Staying away could leave them open to disciplinary proceedings, she added.
But this week, the Azores Islands regional government approved a bank loan to pay the Portuguese workers at the base in the interim. Terra said 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 told the AP, adding that during previous shutdowns, civilians were paid by the US government.
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.
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RSS man's defamation case against Rahul: Key witness unavailable, hearing adjourned to Dec 20
Thane (PTI): A court in Bhiwandi in Thane district on Saturday adjourned the hearing in the criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker to December 20 due to non-availability of a crucial prosecution witness.
Advocate Narayan Iyer, counsel for Rahul Gandhi, confirmed the adjournment, stating that the witness, Ashok Saykar, currently Deputy Superintendent of Police in Barshi in Solapur, could not remain present due to personal reasons.
Saykar's evidence is now likely to be recorded on December 29.
His testimony is considered key because he, as police sub inspector in 2014, conducted the preliminary inquiry into the private defamation matter under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
It was on the basis of Saykar's submitted report that the court subsequently issued process (summons) against Rahul Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The criminal defamation case was filed by local RSS worker Rajesh Kunte following a speech given by Rahul Gandhi at an election rally near Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014.
The case stems from the Congress leader's alleged statement that "the RSS people killed (Mahatma) Gandhi."
The matter is being heard by Bhiwandi Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, P M Kolse.
The hearing had previously been adjourned on November 15 after the complainant's counsel, Advocate Prabodh Jaywant, moved an application seeking permission to examine Saykar, who had submitted the probe report to the court.
The matter was originally scheduled for November 29 but was deferred to December 6 after Rahul Gandhi's legal team sought an adjournment citing their non-availability. The proceedings will now resume on December 20.
