WORKPLACE MEMO: Returning reservists get pink slips from Northwest Airline

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/business/8777214.htm?1c

After dodging bombs and deadly ambushes, some reservists are returning home to find they've lost their civilian jobs.

That's the case for more than 100 reservists on active duty who will be laid off from their jobs at Eagan-based Northwest Airlines. Although the last big airline layoffs occurred in 2003, soldiers don't receive official layoff notices until they come home.

"When they return to their jobs, they'll arrive and be handed a pink slip, actually," said Jim Atkinson, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33.

<snip}

Pilots are the biggest single group affected by the layoffs, said Kay Franey, a senior program analyst with Hennepin County. About 100 have lost their jobs, she estimated.

...more...

Welcome Home Soldiers! (dripping sarcasm cannot be "iconed")

I thought there were federal laws in place guaranteeing one's job if one is called into active duty, be they Army, Reserves, whatever.

Am I wrong on this?

would have been laid off if they were working. since they were not there the company had to wait until they were back..they couldn`t lay them off during their military duty. more of the bush`s "magical mystery tour"

And found this:

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), enacted in October 1994 (and significantly updated in 1996 and 1998), provides reemployment protection and other benefits for veterans and employees who perform military service. It clarifies the rights and responsibilities of National Guard and Reserve members, as well as their civilian employers

<snip>
USERRA, 38 U.S.C. 4301-4333, Public Law 103-353, 108 Stat. 3149, completely replaced the Veterans' Reemployment Rights (VRR) law effective December 12, 1994. Under USERRA, if a military member leaves his civilian job for service in the uniformed services, he is entitled to return to the job, with accrued seniority, provided he meet the law's eligibility criteria. USERRA applies to voluntary as well as involuntary service

, in peacetime as well as wartime, and the law applies to virtually all civilian employers, including the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private employers, regardless of size.

http://www.jagcnet.army.mil/JAGCNETInternet/Homepages/AC/Legal%20Assistance%20Home%20Pa

However, am wondering if those returning to their jobs at Northwest cannot take back jobs that no longer exist due to layoffs. :shrug:
Is it that their jobs disappeared, and that had they not been called into action would have been layed off anyway? Kind of difficult to keep a job in place where it no longer exists.

him-/herself: "Is THIS what I was fighting for? A spot in the unemployment line?"

Damn you all to hell, Bushco!

The reservists aren't the only ones affected -- they're launching broad layoffs of personnel to stay in the air.

bail-out?

The freaking airlines were the first entities to get a big fat handout from the Regime after 9/11. Did they have to kick it back to Cheney or what?

:grr:
dbt

These people are scum, and I'm so so sick of hearing about stuff like this from people who "support 'our' troops".

Exploit the troops is more like it.

.. a mass layoff occurred while they were serving in Iraq, they would have lost the jobs, either way. the enemy is the economy, here.. more succinctly, Bush's economy.

a somewhat good finanacial situation compared to the others.

They must know this could be a public relations disaster - is there more to this story?

It's the example...if they can do it...then why not everyone else?

Some of the mega-corporations are this country's shame. If true, maybe they will suggest these guys move to India.

that Northwest has "outsourced" the aircraft mechanic jobs because these guys were unionized:

"When they return to their jobs, they'll arrive and be handed a pink slip, actually," said Jim Atkinson, president of Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association Local 33."

they can always re-enlist...

Reservists See Recruiting Scam

:eyes:
rocknation