Reservists Return To Find No Jobs
Associated Press
August 16, 2004
WASHINGTON - Increasing numbers of National Guard and Reserve troops who
have returned from war in Iraq and Afghanistan are encountering new battles
with their civilian employers at home. Jobs were eliminated, benefits
reduced and promotions forgotten.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Labor Department reports
receiving greater numbers of complaints under a 1994 law designed to give
Guard and Reserve troops their old jobs back, or provide them with
equivalent positions. Benefits and raises must be protected, as if the
serviceman or servicewoman had never left.
Some soldiers, however, are finding the Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act can't protect them.
-Larry Gill couldn't return as a police officer in Thomasville, Ala.,
because a grenade injured a foot, making it impossible for him to chase
criminals or duck bullets.
-Jerry Chambers, of Oberlin, Kan., discovered budget cuts had eliminated his
job as a substance abuse prevention consultant.
-Ron Vander Wal, of Pollock, S.D., was originally told his job as a customer
service representative was eliminated. He was hired after filing a civil
lawsuit seeking damages.
The Labor Department said complaint numbers would have been worse had the
government not made an aggressive effort to explain the law to employers.
"Any increase in the number of complaints is a concern to us," said Fred
Juarbe Jr., assistant secretary of labor for veterans employment and
training. "At the same time, we're pleased by the fact that the increase in
complaints is not at the level that would have been expected."
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said the department is drafting rules to spell
out the law's protections for service personnel. "We've got to do everything
we can to protect their re-employment rights," she said.
The department was receiving about 900 formal complaints a year before Sept.
11, 2001. The statistical picture since then, based on fiscal years ending
Sept. 30:
-1,218 cases opened in 2002.
-1,327 cases in 2003.
-1,200 cases from Oct. 1, 2003 through July 31. If projected over 12 months,
the figure would be 1,440, the department said.
The department upheld or settled soldiers' complaints in one-third of last
year's cases, while another third were found to have no merit. The remaining
cases are inactive or closed, often because the government lost contact with
the soldier or the soldier returned to active duty.
When Guard and Reserve troops returned from the first Gulf War, there was
one complaint for every 54 soldiers leaving active duty. Currently, with the
government's aggressive drive to inform employers of the law, the figure has
improved to 1 in 69.
The complaints represent a small percentage of the quarter-million Guard and
Reserve troops who have left active duty since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Not all returning troops are bitter about their job loss.
Chambers, the substance abuse consultant, agreed budget cuts left his former
nonprofit employer no choice but to eliminate his job.
"I don't fault them for that and I don't hold grudges," said Chambers. He
was among the lucky ones, finding employment with his Reserve unit, the
1013th Quartermaster Co. based in North Platte and McCook, Neb. His unit has
been mobilized anew, and he is again on active duty.
For others, finding their jobs gone was a hardship, emotionally and
economically.
Gill, the former Alabama police officer with an injured leg, had to give up
a career that began in 1992 and followed in the footsteps of his father and
brother.
"My biggest concern is loss of income," he said.
While some troops fault former employers for firing them as they served
their country, most complaints involved alleged denial of benefits,
promotions and raises, said officials from the Labor Department and a
Pentagon organization - Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
Army Col. Brarry Cox, who coordinates the ESGR's mediation efforts between
employers and returning troops, said typical issues raised by soldiers
include: "What about the 401 (k)? The end-of-year bonus? What about my
evaluation? I was due a merit promotion that I missed.
"We try to talk employers through a logical approach: How were they (the
employees) performing prior to active duty, where do you think they would
have come out?"
The Labor Department, which has subpoena power, asks employers to justify
firings or reduction of benefits and can refer complaints to the Justice
Department for filing of civil lawsuits. Only a small percentage of cases
get that far.
While the 1994 law strengthened previous protections, it doesn't help
doctors, lawyers or small business owners who depend on maintaining a client
base. It doesn't save jobs eliminated by plant closings or budget cuts. And
it doesn't help injured troops who can no longer perform the work they once
did.
Reservists and guardsmen who returned to the Prince George's County
government outside Washington, D.C., were among those who fell into a gray
area.
The county required that they exhaust their leave before receiving a county
salary supplement that bridged the gap between military and civilian pay.
This meant some employees had to count some of their time in a war zone as
vacation days or forfeit the extra pay.
"Our members were not able to decompress," said Percy Alston, president of
the Fraternal Order of Police lodge representing the county's police
officers. His members have challenged the policy through labor grievance
procedures and expect an arbitrator will decide the matter.
http://tinyurl.com/4w8uq
--
"From the brief time that we did spend occupying Iraqi territory
after the war, I am certain that had we taken all of Iraq, we would
have been like the dinosaur in the tar pit - we would still be there,
and we, not the United Nations, would be bearing the costs of
the occupation. This is a burden I am sure the beleaguered
American taxpayer would not have been happy to take on."
- Norman Schwarzkopf, from his 1993 autobiography, "It Doesn't
Take a Hero."
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