Workers in a labor union representing Japanese employees of U.S. military bases in Japan went on a nationwide strike on Wednesday to protest a proposed 10 percent cut in benefits.

Members of the All Japan Garrison Forces Labor Union began the four-hour strike from the start of operations in the predawn hours of Wednesday. It was the first strike to be carried out on a nationwide scale in 16 years. The union members are reportedly preparing for another eight-hour strike at the end of the month, and a three-day strike next month if their protests are ignored.

The strike came in response to the Ministry of Defense's proposal to abolish scaled-up payments made to workers because of the special nature of their jobs, such as insecure employment conditions. The cuts, which come in line with Japan's plan to reduce financial support to U.S. bases, would save about 10 billion yen a year.

However, the union has furiously protested against the proposal, saying that the actual wage standard of base workers is lower than that of other civil servants. It points out that workers are not entitled to apply for compensation for workplace accidents without permission from the U.S. military, and that the Labor Standards Law and other domestic labor-related laws do not apply to them.

The ministry says that the special nature of the workers' jobs has disappeared, but the union disagrees.

"Absolutely nothing has changed," a union representative said.

The union represents about 67 percent of some 25,000 workers at U.S. military bases across the nation.

Outside the Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture, about 450 union members formed a picket. They asked Japanese entering the base to show identification, and if they were base employees, they asked them to support the strike. One female worker who was stopped at the gate called her workplace on her cell phone. Another male worker got into a scuffle with the picketers after he ignored them and tried to walk past, and in the end he was unable to gain entry.

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