European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 5, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday May 5, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 9cost of cutting German staff blasted Gao faults military s handling of draw Down Byra Crowden Washington Bureau Washington a delayed closing announcements inept personnel office staffs and Lack of diplomatic support have increased the costs of cutting German workers from . Military payrolls according to congressional investigators. A report from the general accounting office said current agreements could Lead to Severance pay entitlements totalling $207 million for German workers. Those figures could be driven even higher by lawsuits in German courts or they could be lowered if Large numbers of civilians who lose their jobs find new ones quickly the report said. Delays both in completing the required notifications to German works councils and in announcing planned base closures have already been expensive the investigators said. One example investigators cited was that the . Army Europe and the . Air forces in Europe combined May pay More than $4 million Between now and 1995 to German employees doing no work but assigned to closed installations. German employees of the . Military do not enjoy the comprehensive Protection guarantees for workers that Are Standard in German Industry and their willingness and Success in challenging Job elimination actions in court has worried officials. When the military began closing bases in Germany Severance pay to German workers was limited to about $3,000 apiece by the collective Tariff agreement. A but some employees received More than $10,000 by contesting their release under the German termination Law a the report said. The army is Quick to Settle with employees who bring suit according to the report fearing that court decisions will be More costly than out of court settlements. In the closings of army activities at Rhein Berg Berchtesgaden and Garmisch the Cost of releasing 101 germans Rose from $223,886 to $532,136 because of such settlements the investigators said. In trying to prevent Money losses the . Government negotiated an agreement with German labor unions that increased Severance pay from an average of $3,000 to $4,400 and protected the military from further court action the investigators said. The investigators also criticized Usa eur and Safe for not budgeting for the Cost of separating German workers. They said that while these costs could be met with other funds in the past the Prospect of a Rel nation Law. General accounting office report cutting More than 27,200 local nationals by 1995 should have prompted a funding request. When asked if costs associated with the reduction of the local National work Force were budgeted Usa eur simply said that it had budgeted sufficient funds for Severance payments to local nationals. A other costs associated with the draw Down of the local National work Force Are expected to be relatively minor and can be accommodated within overal budget Levels Quot according to a released statement. The defense department said Safe spokesman it. Col. . Crowley is in the process of establishing an account that All the services can use for Severance cases involving . Or local National employees who lose their jobs when a base is closed or when it is returned to a Host nation. The report did not address the Issue of How the services plan to tailor their German work Force to their future needs. Rep. H. Martin Lancaster d-n.c., lashed out at Usa eur earlier this month for failing to provide such a plan. In its statement Usa eur said no detailed information concerning future local National employment Levels would be provided at this time because of current talks with the Una eur head works Council. According to figures from Usa eur and Safe the militia a in june 1991 had 47,280 local nationals on the payroll in Germany. Of those Usa eur reported that it employed 39,639. As of april 1, the command was employing 36,581 local nationals. At the end of fiscal 1992, the commands Overall civilian work Force level for appropriated fund employees made up of americans and local nationals a is projected to be 50,000. It will drop to Between 36,000 and 40,000 the following year. By the end of the announced draw Down in 1995, the work Force is expected to be 33,000. As of sept. 30, 1991, Safe employed 4,288 local nationals. With Safe taking Over responsibility for Rhein main a Germany from the military Airlift come this fiscal year Safe is adding 600 More local National jobs to its payroll Crowley said. Therefore the local National work Force is expected to grow to More than 4,400 by the end of the current fiscal year. The payroll is expected to drop by fiscal 1993 when staffing is expected to be 3,784. Thirteen spots Are scheduled to be eliminated the following year Crowley said. Staff Wikar Kavun Dougherty contributed to this report investigators single out cases at army of Sites Byra Crowden and Kevin Dougherty staff writers the general accounting office report detailed several situations in which investigators believe the army and air Force mishandled the Severance of local National employees in Germany. A at , Germany failing to provide the local works Council which represents the local National employees with information in both German and English a caused the process to restart and resulted in a later termination Date than was originally planned a the report said. A because of personnel officials Lack of familiarity with required termination procedures the army ultimately paid almost $800,000 in salaries to 49 local National employees after their jobs were eliminated during partial closures at Berchtesgaden and Garmisch Germany. The salaries separate from Severance payments had to be maintained because of the improper procedures. A the partial closure of Hahn a Germany was singled out As an example of How late Public announcement coupled with the lengthy termination process can add up to millions of wasted dollars. The investigators said complications in the required talks with the German government delayed the Public announce ment of Hahn a partial closing until May 1991, Only four months before the changes were implemented. Because the process of terminating jobs requires nine to 12 months the . Air forces in Europe anticipated paying 260 German employees up $2.7 million in unearned salaries. The base which now has a support group Mission is scheduled to be returned to Germany in september 1993. A the Gao investigators disagreed with state department officials who favor delaying efforts to seek German government commitments to sharing the costs of drawing Down the numbers of germans employed on . Bases. Specifically the investigators suggested that american diplomats seek Cash commitments from the germans in two areas additional costs that result from base closure delays requested by the germans and Severance pay costs that exceed the provisions of the current tarriff agreement. The report noted that the . Army Europe a commander Gen. Crosbie e. Saint asked embassy officials a year ago to approach the germans about bearing a larger share of local National employment costs including the costs of terminating German employees. However state department officials told investigators that 1991 was not a Good year to begin such politically controversial talks since negotiations already were being conducted on German payments linked to the persian Gulf War. Furthermore the officials noted that a review of the nato status of forces agreement with Germany is under Way and nato wide Burden sharing talks Are expected to cover local National employee Bonus and health costs. While admitting that mistakes were made at Safe bases that were closing or downsizing it. Col. . Crowley indicated that those costs were offset by the savings Safe expects to realize by the a accelerated draw Down actions at  and Hahn air bases. In Wei Brincken s Case the base was closed two to three years earlier than was originally planned. A what we Learned at Wei Brincken benefited us when we took Down Hahn and it will continue to Benefit us with further draw Down actions in the future a Crowley said. In regard to Hahn Crowley said the draw Down of its 50th tac fighter Wing a was done in a very time compressed  the base is scheduled to be returned to Germany in september 1993. A we worked As fast As we could As hard As we could to get to where we could realize some savings a Crowley said. In a written response to the reports Points on its out of court settlements Usa eur said a in determining whether to make court settlements a number of factors must be weighed including the Cost of continued litigation recommendations of the court As Well As the extended payroll costs involved if the court directs the employee s return to work. It was Early experiences with these considerations that made negotiations of a social plan a practical and economical  Neal Walsh press attached for the . Embassy in Bonn Germany issued a statement in response to the Gao report which was critical of . Diplomats Tor what the report said was a Lack of diplomatic support in seeking adequate compensation from the German government. The statement said in part a the embassy has consistently supported efforts directed by the department of defense and department of state aimed at reaching More equitable sharing of the costs of Basing . Forces in , Hasbro in Donnybrook Over dolls London up a Barbie perhaps americans Best known doll is taking her British rival Sindy to court the times newspaper reported. Mattel inc., the . Maker of Barbie has charged Sindy with impersonation and has filed Legal papers at the High court in London for breach of copyright the paper said sunday. Mattel claims Sindy has undergone changes to become barbies identical twin a in an International Battle for supremacy in 20 million girls bedrooms a the times said. The paper said the two dolls fell out when Hasbro inc., Mattel a rival in the worlds toy Market bought the rights to Sindy and then realized she was in danger or being left on the shelf by Barbie fans. The Battle began with the two companies trading insults about each others products a for example a Sindy is so Dull and a Barbie is an All american tart a the times said. But Sindy soon began to change her image in an imitation of Barbie Mattel claimed. Barbie has already won victories in courtrooms in Europe