By I wonder if the Korean government has ever thought of doing this with USFK workers?:
A Japanese government working group recommended reviewing salaries of local workers on U.S. military bases as a potential cost-cutting measure, though it backed away from offering a specific proposal.Nine of the 12 panel members said Thursday evening that base workers being paid more than private company workers in the same field should have their salaries cut.
A pay cut among the roughly 25,000 Japanese who work on bases would be the second since 2008, in the midst of one of Japan’s worst economic situations since the end of World War II.
The panel is part of the Administrative Reform Council, created soon after the Democratic Party of Japan took power in August as an attempt to fulfill its campaign pledge of a more transparent government spending process.
Japan pays the salaries of about 23,000 of those workers, though bilateral agreements require negotiation between the two countries on decisions affecting Japanese workers. [Stars & Stripes]
10:45 am on November 30th, 2009 1
"I wonder if the Korean government has ever thought of doing this with USFK workers?"
Only if the US contributes a smaller share to their salaries.
11:55 am on November 30th, 2009 2
The agreements between USFK and the ROK isn't nearly as "equal" as the Japan to USFJ one. They pay for some on base facilities, but USFK pays almost all of everything else.
12:13 pm on November 30th, 2009 3
You must remember and appreciate Koreas' special circumstances and situation.
5:27 pm on November 30th, 2009 4
Korea can't cut the wages of the KN workforce because they don't pay the Korean workforce, USFK does.
Korea does contribute a portion of funds used for KN salaries through Labor Cost Sharing as part of the Special Measures Agreement. That agreement won't be renegotiated for 5 years, so the funding levels are set. Even if at some future date LCS funds were reduced, it wouldn't affect salaries, although it could result in a RIF.
Korean salaries are set in accordance with DoD wage and benefit regulations for foriegn nationals. Essentially, the wages we pay must be in accordance with the prevailing practices of the Korean private sector. USFK conducts a full wage and benefit survey every 3 years for this purpose. By law, pay increases to FNs cannot exceed the greater of what US gov't employees or host nation gov't employees receive.
The next wage and benefit survey for KNs will be conducted next year. After the last survey, there was an 11% "pay lag" between USFK and private sector workers.
Comparing Japan and Korea is really apples and oranges anyway. In Japan, the USFJ employees work for the Japanese government. In Korea, the employees are "direct hires" by USFK.
I'll now turn the floor over to the usual suspects for the requisite bashing of USFK and/or our Korean hosts.
10:25 am on December 1st, 2009 5
Nice..now I have to clean coffee off my computer screen.!