Honor Veterans by Fighting for Them Like They Fought for Us
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More than 2 million union members are veterans. On this day dedicated to those who have served their country in the military, it’s appropriate to remember that we need to fight for them just as they fought to defend us.
Like all workers, veterans are suffering in this tough economy. But for many vets, the situation is dire. Nearly one in five veterans (18 percent) recently back from tours of duty is unemployed. Of those employed since leaving the military, 25 percent earn less than $21,840 a year. On any given day, as many as 250,000 veterans (male and female) are living on the streets or in shelters, and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.
So as we celebrate their service, let us also focus on ways to help veterans and all workers get out of this economic mess. In a statement, Mark Ayers, chairman of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council and president of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), says:
They way I see it—they served us, so now it’s our turn to serve them. We owe our freedoms to the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have served in the military. For many, their fights on the battlefield are over; but now they must sadly endure other battles—such as finding meaningful employment, affordable housing and accessible health care—in their transition back into civilian life.
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.
