European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 a the stars and stripes Friday june 15,1990 a congressman replies to letters on in workers a recent article in the stars and stripes has one bit of erroneous information. The article i am referring to had the headline a Udod Layoff plan comes under rep. John r. Kasich a Ohio was More Correct than he knew when he said a the compensation often seems excessive with such provisions As marriage bonuses transportation allowances annual vacation bonuses and Days off for local holidays As Well As . Bill Coakley responded Back a a. It is not True that local nationals get . Holidays off. They Are expected to work on . he is Flat wrong. I know of at least one area where los take All american holidays p Leas Well As in holidays. Is this special arrangement written into their contract. Many of the military and american civilian personnel Are afraid to ask Why the los Are Given this special privilege so i have decided to ask this in a letter to the editor. After All we done to get local National holidays off. A name withheld Vvs Ryburg West Germany. I have worked for cafes and other militia run companies and from what i saw the local nationals have a lot better benefits and get paid in Marks to their local Bank. Besides if they do get Laid off they can find a Job on their local Economy. What about the americans we sure can to go downtown and get another Job. We Are the ones who suffer. We re not stupid. If you done to want to take care of working or non working americans stationed Over Here then Send us All Home. A name withheld sch Sobisch Gofind West Germany i read a lawmakers snipe at pay benefits of in employees a and i could not help but wonder where have i been to miss All these wonderful benefits rep. John Kasich mentions. They sure sound Good i have been working for the . Air Force for the ast eight years. During this time i got married. Need Ess to say i have yet to see a Bonus. It was not pleasant either to see my military co workers get a few Days off Here and there during the Christmas season and stay at work because the Law did not authorize a local nationals that time off. Sure we do have More National holidays than . Employees. But it is also True that if one or More of them fall on a weekend and it is extremely rare the year this does no to occur we lose them because they Are not moved to mondays so we can enjoy them. By the same Token we do not take . Holidays off. Our transportation allowances consist of the a mind boggling amount of about $27 a month that it costs to ride a bus that a not provided solely to local nationals but to anybody else coming and going to the base. And it Only has two stops in the City which May still leave you quite far away from Home. I guess what i am trying to say is that we do our work just like any other employee and get paid every month like the rest. We do not enjoy special privileges and our pay is equivalent to what is paid in the rest of our country not compared to . Wages. No or. Kasich the a scandal that has yet to come to Light does no to exist. . Representatives would do better to Stop being so upset about the a Liberal pay and benefits and thinking they might be Able to afford a deep Cut in pay. Instead they should think about themselves. Arentt they the people who found time to give themselves a 30 percent to 40 percent pay raise and seem to have nothing better to do than nit the armed forces and its employees right and left every time they get a Chance let me bring up one last Point a the service we local nationals provide to you . People who Are stationed abroad. This is a service that has no Price and makes your life so much easier. Who Calls your landlord when you need it who accompanies you to the phone company to get a phone or Clear those Bills who rushes with you to the Hospital when your wife had a miscarriage who takes you to the car dealer who helps you get your car fixed who Calls the train station and the Airport for you who gives you a list of restaurants who makes your hotel reservations who translates your insurance papers Etc. I personally have done All plus and More and i know Many of my friends have too. I Hope next time or. Kasich gets his facts straight before talking or maybe he would be willing to switch his pay and benefits for those of local National employees overseas i done to think so a name withheld Zaragoza Spain. I am very Happy with present changes that Are occurring a the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of the two Germany. Change in this Case is of course inevitable and expected but the Way change is occurring is not. With the change in Mission and the reduction of forces upon us there has come also a Type of biased atmosphere in our Community. The article states that there Are numerous local National positions to be left untouched. That needs to be addressed. I am not unreasonable. I can accept change a to include the present hiring freeze As Well As the cutbacks a As Long As these things affect All employees. It often seems to me that an american working in a foreign county even though he or she is working for his own government gets what is left at the Bottom of the bucket and is very often treated with the same Lack of importance oftentimes without regard to his or her capabilities. If a local National employee is absent his work is simply not done because there is no one capable of doing the Job or wants to unless of course there is a multiple hat wearing Cross trained american working in that office. I am not implying that this scenario fits every office that employs both american and local National employees. I am stating that it does exist and very often when it is brought to the attention of management nothing is done to change it. Being an american whose government pays the salaries of its local National employees i am not pleased with this situation especially when one of the first to lose a Job in the upcoming cutbacks will More Likely be that multiple hat wearing Cross trained american employee who is probably a temporary employee or one who has been working for a Shorter period of time than his or her local National counterparts. What i would like to see is for management to clean House. I really done to like to see my tax dollars being spent supporting any employee regardless of nationality who is less than competent in their Job. I would like to see management assist in trimming the fat. Lets keep the employee who is going to Benefit not Only the workforce but the employer As Are we paying people to do work that can be better done by someone else Why Are there so Many unfair differences Between the local National employee and the american employee in regards to benefits and salaries Why is it that a local National employee who uses 10 Days of sick leave gets a letter of appreciation Quot. Ltd Community commander placed in his or her file at co and the american employee who uses Only eight Days of sick leave is Only offered the option of a letter from the supervisor that will be kept in the office personnel file Why the double Standard All employees should be treated fairly and if you must judge do so taking Only into account the Merit of the deeds performed. I can to understand Why a country with As powerful a Constitution As ours would Settle for anything less. Are my constitutional rights Only Good on american soil a name withheld Mannheim West Germany talking about pay for local National employees Calls for cooler minds than the article a Udod Layoff plan comes under fire a has shown. I would like to assume that some of the quoted sources were not confused by the phone company to get a phone or Clear those bins that some of the quoted sources were not con a filipino makes a plea for his country in a deeply disgusted and Hurt about the news about cation in the United states and forget All the inc Cihua a Encino of that it s Hacic in the Phil that we received. For Over 375 Vears the p in a deeply disgusted and Hurt about the news about the possible closing of the . Bases in the Philippines. I have prayed that the philippine president would have a heart to keep my country the Philippines Strong through the . Bases. Twenty five years ago we never had a communist embassy nor the different kinds of communist groups. But now my country has opened a huge Rich place for the communist embassy. This is what the philippine leaders want. I am very concerned for my country a future but even now it is already risky. We were miraculously saved from the hands of the enemies by the United states. How ungrateful my country is today. Those leaders now get All their Edu cation in the United states and forget All the help that we received. For Over 375 years the Philippines was under Spanish Rule but Only a few years were spent As a . Territory but tremendous help was Given by the United states. My own people ministers priests and the poor families and banners Are being killed every Day. Graft and corruption Are still going on. Wake up filipino leaders before its too late. Please save the Philippines from the hands of the communists. In a deeply moved and in a crying while writing this letter. A name withheld Kirch guns West Germany facts but just by their emotions. I think it is quite easy to find out who gets the bettor Deal a the local nationals or the . Employee asking the following questions y by 1. How much does a . Employee and How much does an in make base pay before and after taxes no 2. Extras How much for moving .p housing allowance . ? tax exemption privileges including Gas . ? leave ./ln ? sick Leav in ? be and Christmas Bonus in ? take a calculator what a the Bottom line this list by the Way is not Complete 3. How Many in employees have been replaced by in employees in the last 15 years and How Many employees have come in during the last 15 years 4. How Many ln/. Employees were in even lower management positions 15 years ago How has this changed 5. What Are promotion options for ln/. Employees How has this been affected by policies on Security clearances conversions Etc., in the past and today these Are just a few aspects the list could be extended and the Issue is not suitable for polemics. Doing away with agreements like sofa Etc., As suggested in the article will bring up an equal Opportunity Issue which is presently not obvious would los then be employed on the same basis As . Employees with All the consequences Exchange privileges options to seek employment in the United states acceptance in the is system and the like denying this and denying los the labor Law framework of their own countries would bring up a discrimination Issue. Is that a Well thought out proposition the other option would be no los at All. If i am rightly informed the soviet military in Eastern Europe had such an approach. In other words a foreign military Force of several Hundred thousand members All Over Europe closed to the local Job Market a sensible option for the . Forces there is one foolproof Way to find out if the sources of this article Are accurate have both . And in work forces take a vote if they want to accept each others labor framework. Thereafter the Issue should be looked at again coolly and level headed. If costs Are truly an Issue a calculator should Tell the . Forces whom to employ in Europe economically and within which labor Law framework. There the Case should rest. A Franz a. Thomann Ober Kochen West Germany editors note a rep. John r. Kasich a Ohio replies thank you for your letters regarding the hiring of foreign nationals at is. Overseas military bases. The readiness subcommittee on which i serve recently held a hearing into the fringe benefits enjoyed by foreign nationals employed by the department of defense. While die departments witnesses asserted that foreign nationals pay and benefits package is on average lower than that received by us. Civilian hires i remain disturbed by what appear to be Overly generous concessions to foreign workers. As the number of us. Troops stationed overseas begins to decline i believe it is Only fair that foreign nationals should be first to be Laid off rather than . Nationals. Also i believe that if the Host country wants its citizens to receive fringe benefits not normally provided to us. Workers suit country should foot the Bill not us. Taxpayers. I intend to work for a change in the Law to ensure that the us. Government is no longer liable to pay exorbitant fringe thank you for sharing your views with me. Please do not hesitate to Contact me if i can be of further pals i would like English speaking pen pals. A Sophia Wellington Shenton dtst., bog walk . St. Catherine Jamaica i am 24 years old and studying computer programming. A Leonicia Prentice 143c Devonshire co., Forest Hill London be 23 3l2 England i am 9 years old and enjoy Reading and swimming. A Jody Whitteaker 79 Guylyn Valley Park. To. 63088 i am in the . Navy and would like to write to people in european co tries. My interests include backpacking weight lifting surfing and skiing. A Mark Soli im-3 division .s. Cart Vinson cvn-70 Fpo san Francisco 96629-2840 i am 19 years old and would like to write to americans. A Silvia Oiz Scha Rask Engstr. 120 1000 Berlin 51 i am 35 years old and would like to write to people All Over the Worta. A Vivien Curtis 26, Hulme Road Sale Moor a a Cheshire m33 England
