The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has terminated collective bargaining agreements for most of its bargaining-unit employees, stripping hundreds of thousands of workers from union protections.
Newsweek contacted the VA for comment via email outside regular working hours.
Why It Matters
According to the VA, the decision follows a March executive order signed by President Donald Trump that eliminated collective bargaining rights for many federal employees. A White House fact sheet about the order cited national security concerns, adding, “Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda.”
The decision stands to affect more than 400,000 federal workers, according to The New York Times. The agency’s decision follows a federal appellate court ruling on Friday that lifted a lower court’s ban on ending union contracts.
What To Know
In a statement issued on August 6, the federal agency said it had terminated contracts with five major unions: the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
The VA said the move, which is effective immediately, would enable staff to “spend more time with Veterans.” The agency added that in 2024, almost 2,000 union employees “spent more than 750,000 hours of work on taxpayer-funded union time.”
According to the agency, without those duties, “those hours can now be used to serve Veterans instead of union bosses.”
The agency also said labor contracts had limited managers’ ability to hire, promote and reward high-performing employees, as well as to hold underperforming staff accountable.
The move is not expected to affect some 4,000 VA police officers, firefighters or security guards represented by the unions “as those occupations are exempt” from the executive order.
The announcement has drawn significant ire from some of the unions affected. AFGE President Everett Kelley said the union was being punished for “speaking out against the illegal, anti-worker, and anti-veteran policies of this administration.”
What People Are Saying
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said in a news release: “Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of Veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers. We’re making sure VA resources and employees are singularly focused on the job we were sent here to do: providing top-notch care and service to those who wore the uniform.”
AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a news release: “Secretary Collins’ decision to rip up the negotiated union contract for majority of its workforce is another clear example of retaliation against AFGE members for speaking out against the illegal, anti-worker, and anti-veteran policies of this administration.”
The NNU said in a statement: “President Trump continues waging class warfare against working people of America. … This is just the latest salvo in the battle to break the spirit of working people in this country. But we will not be broken. We will continue to fight for and assert our constitutionally guaranteed collective bargaining rights and to speak freely against policies that hurt veterans and the public. That is our duty as nurses, and we will continue to be fierce advocates for our patients. This is in spite of Trump’s administration unprecedented, outrageous, and irresponsible attacks.”
What Happens Next
The AFGE has said it is “assessing our options to challenge Secretary Collins’ decision and restore our members’ union rights.”
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