Italy urges US to unlock pay for military base workers amid shutdown

"(Italy's) foreign ministry has made a request to the U.S. embassy in Rome, which confirmed that the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are examining with the Pentagon the possibility of using their own funds to pay the Italian employees," the ministry said in a statement.

Local staff at some American military bases in Italy have not been paid due to the U.S. government shutdown and Rome is in talks with U.S. authorities to resolve the issue, the Italian foreign ministry said on Saturday. About 2,000 non-military Italian employees, mainly at Aviano Air Base and the Vicenza army base in northeast Italy, missed their October pay despite being employed under Italian work contracts, the ministry said.

Italian workers at U.S. Navy bases in the country, however, were paid on time as the navy applies different rules to the army and air force. In the United States, the record-long shutdown has left millions of federal government workers without paychecks, has frozen critical food aid and has snarled airline travel, among other impacts.

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged both Washington and the U.S. embassy in Rome to act swiftly, regardless of when the shutdown ends. "(Italy's) foreign ministry has made a request to the U.S. embassy in Rome, which confirmed that the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are examining with the Pentagon the possibility of using their own funds to pay the Italian employees," the ministry said in a statement.

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