Authorizing City Council's Committee on Labor and Civil Service and the Committee on Public Safety to hold public hearings to make inquiries and investigations relating to the reemployment rights of City employees who return from active duty in the National Guard and Reserve Components of the Armed Forces of the United States.

WHEREAS, Hundreds of employees of the City of Philadelphia serve our country as members of the National Guard and the Reserve Components of the Armed Forces of the United States; and

WHEREAS, Such service is deeply appreciated by all the citizens of Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Employees of the City of Philadelphia have been called to active duty as a result of the events of September 11, 2001, and military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq; and

WHEREAS, These employees, after having served with fidelity and distinction, have completed their military assignments and have returned to employment with the City of Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, Congress has passed Title 38 of the United States Code Chapter 43, to guarantee job rights for reservists who return from active duty; and

WHEREAS, Among the rights protected by Federal law are seniority and promotions, which they would have been earned had the employee not been called to active duty; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Fire Department called to active duty were unable to take examinations as scheduled and thereby were not promoted; and

WHEREAS, Such loss of promotions would be contrary to the spirit if not the letter of the Federal Law; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Labor and Civil Service and the Committee on Public Safety are authorized to hold public hearings to make inquiries and investigations relating to the reemployment rights of City employees who return from active duty in the National Guard and Reserve Components of the Armed Forces of the United States.

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