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.
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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, workers 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 said.
The jobs foreign nationals do at US bases around the world range from food service, construction, logistics, maintenance and other, more specialised roles. In some cases, foreign workers are employed by private companies contracted by the US government while others are direct hires.