Union, Okinawa mayor vow to fight proposed cuts to base worker pay

Union, Okinawa mayor vow to fight proposed cuts to base worker pay
By Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, December 6, 2009

NAHA, Okinawa — Leaders of a labor union for Japanese base workers on Okinawa pleaded with Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Thursday to block a 30 percent pay cut proposed by a Japanese government panel formed to scrutinize government expenditures.

The Government Revitalization Unit studied 447 government spending projects proposed for 2010, including salaries of about 23,000 Japanese workers on U.S. military bases in mainland Japan and Okinawa. The workers are paid by the Ministry of Defense under the host nation support program.

Following their recently completed study, Government Revitalization Unit panelists recommended cutting the salaries of Japanese base workers, especially those on Okinawa, saying they were overpaid compared to those doing similar jobs in local communities.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s administration said last month that the government would take the recommendations into account when compiling the budget, to be finalized by the end of December, adding that everything is negotiable.

"If it takes place as they recommend, the salaries of base workers on Okinawa would be cut by 30 percent," said Eizo Yonaha, chairman of the Okinawa chapter of the All Japan Garrison Forces Labor Union, known as Zenchuro, during the visit to Nakaima’s Naha office. He was accompanied by bipartisan members of Okinawa’s prefectural assembly, who sided with the union.


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