US military to lay off local workforce in S. Korea

[UpInArms]

http://english.people.com.cn/200505/20/eng20050520_186025.html

The US military issued layoff notices to more than 100 South Koreans employed at its air bases here earlier this month, the country's news agency Yonhap quoted a local official as saying Friday.

The move is seen as the US implementing its plan to cut 1,000 South Korean civilian jobs at its military installations here in protest of Seoul's decision to slash its financial contribution to the US troop presence.

On May 11, the US Air Forces Korea informed 112 of its South Korean employees of its decision to sack them on May 27, said Kang In-shik, the head of the union for South Korean workers at US bases. The workers were on one-year contracts that were to expire in September, he said.

"We have to understand they belong to the 1,000 people," Kang said.

Kang said his labor union plans to stage a mass rally in Seoul early next month to step up its demand for the US military to cancel its layoff plan. About 10,000 protesters are expected to attend the planned June 3 demonstration, he added.

<snip>

Earlier this year, South Korea said it would cut its funding for the US military presence here by 8.9 percent to 680.4 billion won (680 million US dollars). Last year, South Korea contributed 746.9 billion won, which accounted for 45 percent of the total deployment cost.

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[SKKY]

1. What's the problem here?

They had a 1 year contract which I'm assuming they fulfilled accordingly, and we're not renewing it. Big deal. Should we keep them on the books forever?