[Shadow_Group] No way to treat our soldiers

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

No way to treat our soldiers
Article Published: Thursday, November 18, 2004 
By Peter G. Chronis

FROM:
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~153~2541518,00.html<http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~153~2541518,00.html>
More than any time since World War II, the U.S. armed
forces are relying on National Guard and Reserve
troops to carry out their mission, a result of the
demands of deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. 

Yet there's troubling evidence that some employers
aren't doing right by reservists when they return.

Most activated Reserve and Guard members take a
serious pay cut to serve their country - they
shouldn't be pushed out of their civilian jobs, too.
(To their credit, some private-sector and government
employers have made up the difference between military
and civilian pay and kept up the troops' benefits in
their absence.)

Sadly, Marine Lt. Col. Steve Duarte, about whose
ongoing fight with his former employer, Agilent
Technologies Inc., I wrote about in June, isn't alone.
Duarte was "workforce-managed" on Nov. 10, 2003 (the
228th birthday of the Marine Corps, no less), shortly
after returning from an overseas deployment to Iraq.
After 19 years of dedicated service, Agilent suddenly
decided Duarte's skills aren't as good as those of his
peers and terminated - er, "workforce-managed" - the
compensation specialist.

The 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and
Re-employment Rights Act was passed because many
troops called up for Desert Storm in 1990 and '91
found their civilian jobs had vanished.

The U.S. switched to an all-volunteer military in
1973, and under the "total force" concept, the Guard
and reserve augment active-duty forces in wartime.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, 442,415 reservists have
been called up to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq,
according to Mike Biddle, a spokesman for the U.S.
Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. Of those,
270,274 have been demobilized.

The current deployments have been much longer than
Desert Storm, and some reservists have been activated
more than once since Sept. 11.

During the 2004 fiscal year, complaints under the law
totaled 1,454, up 11 percent from 1,315 cases in
fiscal 2003, which in turn was up 10 percent from
1,195 in fiscal 2002, Biddle said. Before Sept.
commanding officer refers the case to the Department
of Labor, which investigates and then tries to resolve
cases with merit.

Another avenue is an ombudsman organization, Employers
in Support of the Guard and Reserve, which uses
volunteer lawyers to iron out disputes.

If nothing works, Labor can send the case to the
Justice Department for possible litigation. As a last
resort, Justice can file a federal lawsuit against the
employer.

So far, three Colorado cases have been referred to the
U.S. Attorney's office here, Dorschner said. Two were
settled after suits were filed in federal court, and a
third was settled without filing suit. (Duarte hired
private attorney George Aucoin of New Orleans to file
his suit.)

"I feel pretty strongly \[about USERRA\] and I think
that most Americans feel strongly that the law that
protects reservists' jobs is a good one and should be
enforced," said U.S. Attorney John Suthers.

Employers usually "take the issue quite seriously"
once they hear from the U.S. attorney, he said.

Duarte, 51, told me that he's sent out a bunch of
résumés but still hasn't landed a new job. "There are
a lot of 'hopefuls' - people who sound very positive -
but nothing that'll put money in my pocket."
Settlement talks failed, he said, and the case is set
for trial in March, and he's determined to see it
through. "It's the principle of the thing," Duarte
said.

Ultimately, a court may decide who's right but, as a
former Marine reservist, my sympathies are with
Duarte. Citizen-soldiers deserve our gratitude - not a
kick in the pants. But if the numbers are any
indication, I'm afraid he's going to have company.

Peter G. Chronis is a member of The Denver Post's
editorial board.




 



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