VA Terminates Most Union Contracts
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) terminated collective bargaining agreements for most of its employees, ending union membership for some 377,000 VA workers.
VA became the first agency to formally implement President Trump’s executive order that stripped most federal workers of their collective bargaining rights on national security grounds.
The only union contracts that remain at VA are those covering the agency’s roughly 4,000 police officers, security officers, and firefighters.
Agreements were largely terminated with the following labor organizations:
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
National Association of Government Employees (NAGE)
National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE)
National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU)
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
The VA says the move will make it easier to “promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America’s Veterans.”
In its statement announcing the decision, the VA said that employees will be able to “spend more time with Veterans,” noting that the almost 2,000 union employees spent more than 750,000 hours of work on taxpayer-funded union time in 2024. It also noted that unions are using 187,000 square feet of VA office space free of charge.
“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,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins.
Labor Organizations Weigh Options
Labor organizations say they are weighing their legal options, and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) points out that the decision is inconsistent with Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance not to terminate CBAs until the conclusion of litigation.
“Secretary Collins’ decision to rip up the negotiated union contract for a 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,” stated AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
That sentiment was echoed by National Nurses United (NNU), who says it plans to continue litigating the case filed against the executive order in the Northern District of California in April.
“NNU recognizes this effort to erase our collective bargaining agreements is a blatant attempt to bust our unions and to silence the nurses and workers who are standing on the frontlines to protect our country’s fundamental institutions,” said NNU in a statement.
