The fight for our Veterans of Steel continues in our union.
Last summer. we passed a resolution at our Constititional Convention mandating USW locals have a Veterans of Steel committee. At the start of this year, we announced a new initative with our Rapid Response, Veterans of Steel and other activist groups to push for legislation at all levels of government that helps our military veterans, especially at the workplace. This was inspired by our union family in New York, which led the way for passage of a first-of-its-kind law in the nation that requires employers to display a poster containing information on veterans’ benefits and services, which shall be created and distributed by the Department of Labor.
This week, our International President Tom Conway, penned a letter to leaders in Congress urging them to support H.R. 984, the “Commitment to Veteran Support and Outreach (CVSO) Act.” This bipartisan legislation authorizes additional resources to expand the work of county veterans service officers (CVSOs), who are often the best resource on the ground to assist veterans in securing the benefits they have earned.
"Right now, many veterans do not access all of their earned benefits because they do not have the proper information or knowledge on how to navigate the benefits process. Out of 19 million veterans in the United States, only about 9.6 million are enrolled in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, 5.3 million receive disability compensation, and 3.6 million are active VA home loan participants — with other VA programs showing similar rates of underutilization," Conway wrote. "To reduce benefit underutilization and increase awareness of services, the CVSO Act will strengthen county veterans service officers’ efforts to conduct outreach and provide support to underserved veterans, which can improve overall health and wellness."
Click here to read the entire letter.