Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans Unemployment: A Quiet Crisis
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks a decade ago, some 2.3 million military members have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands more continue to deploy leaving their families at home while they serve our country overseas.
But when these brave men and women return home, many face a new enemy: unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was 12.4 percent in July, up from 11.8 percent in July 2010. In August, the jobless rate for these veterans had dropped slightly to 9.8 percent, but it does not include veterans who are underemployed or have stopped looking for work.
Remember Those Who Served on Memorial Day
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James Gilbert, director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council, asks that we all remember the reason for the Memorial Day holiday.
Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the American military. It is a day for Americans to offer tribute and honor to the heroes who laid down their lives to preserve freedom.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. Officially proclaimed Decoration Day on May 5, 1868, by Gen. John Logan, Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
In 1882, the name Decoration Day was changed to Memorial Day to honor those killed during the Civil War. It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May.
Social Security Cuts Put Vets Back in Line of Fire
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Social Security is crucial to veterans and military families when those who have served our country retire, become disabled, or lose their lives. Yet Republican lawmakers have put Social Security in their sights, willing to trade Social Security cuts for tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations in the name of deficit reduction. But cuts to Social Security or privatization would hurt millions veterans and military families.
Today, nine veterans’ organizations—including the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council—and several lawmakers joined the Strengthen Social Security campaign and released a report “Social Security: Serving Those Who Serve Our Nation” that shows the deep harm cuts would do to veterans and military families. For example:
Most of the more than 4,000 children who lost a parent since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars now receive Social Security survivors’ benefits. More than 771,000 veterans receive Social Security disability benefits. Social Security currently pays benefits to over 9 million veterans—about 4 in 10 veterans today—and the vast majority of veterans will become Social Security beneficiaries in the future.
Obama: Union Members the ‘Backbone’ of Final Election Push
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This election, President Obama told thousands of union activists and leaders on a teleconference call last night, “is as important as anything we did two years ago.” Obama praised the efforts of Labor 2010 activists across the country and said:
The labor program you guys have put into place is the backbone of the ground program.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who hosted the call, said union volunteers, from rank-and-file members to union presidents, “will make the difference when everything is counted up” and that our actions are a huge counterweight to the record-breaking spending by phony front groups fueled by secret corporate campaign contributions.
For every dollar spent by corporate CEOs, you’ve knocked on one door, dialed one number, handed out one leaflet. One voter at a time, you’ve been erasing those millions of dollars to let our opponents know that democracy isn’t for sale. We’re not for sale.
Military Veterans Deserve Jobs When They Return
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While we take the time this Veterans Day to honor the courage and sacrifice shown by our veterans, we should also rededicate ourselves to making sure vets have a secure and stable life after they finish their service.
The U.S. Labor Department reports the unemployment rate among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is 11.3 percent, significantly above the overall rate of 10.2 percent for the nation as a whole. Some 185,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are out of work. Many of these unemployed veterans are National Guard or Reserve troops who were called to duty but found when they came home that their old jobs were no longer there for them.
The AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council is calling on Congress to strengthen and enforce the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which ensures veterans can claim their former jobs when they return from active duty.
In his Veterans Day message, Union Veterans Council Chairman Mark Ayers quotes President Franklin Roosevelt who signed the first GI Bill into law in 1944:
What our servicemen and women want, more than anything else, is the assurance of satisfactory employment upon their return to civil life.
Union Political Mobilization Has Turned Around America
Four years ago, an anti-worker majority in Congress and the Bush administration were conducting a corporate-funded assault on workers and the programs that supported America. They were implementing policies that steered the economy toward the very wealthiest and leaving everyone else behind. What a difference four years makes. Now in the White House, we have Barack Obama, the first African American president and a supporter of unions and working families and pro-worker majorities in both houses of Congress.
Today, at the AFL-CIO Convention, attendees got a chance to examine the successes of union political mobilization and look forward to continuing the fight to elect pro-worker candidates and passing a pro-worker legislative agenda. Delegates adopted a strong resolution in support of continuing an active political program.
Veterans Push for Employee Free Choice
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Yesterday in Norfolk, Va., union veterans held the first event of what will be a nationwide campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, uniting union and nonunion veterans from across the country in support of the freedom to form unions and bargain.
In a dozen states, VoteVets.org, Veterans and Military Families for Progress (VMFP), Veterans’ Alliance for Security and Democracy (VETPAC) and the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council are teaming up to host military veterans, family members and union members for rallies, roundtable discussions and mobilization events. More than 2 million union members—14 percent of all union members—are veterans and, along with national veterans’ groups, they’re ready to mobilize for a level playing field in the workplace and the freedom to bargain for the economic opportunity they deserve.
Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and the chairman of VoteVets.org, says freedom of assembly and the right to bargain for a better life is a critical part of the American promise that needs to be kept.
