The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has terminated union contracts for most of its unionized employees.
The move follows President Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude certain agencies from labor-management relations programs, according to an Aug. 6 VA news release.
The department notified the following unions Aug. 6 that VA contracts for most bargaining-unit employees were terminated, effective immediately:
- National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United
- Service Employees International Union
- American Federation of Government Employees
- National Association of Government Employees
- National Federation of Federal Employees
National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union of registered nurses, said the terminations affect about 16,000 nurses represented at 23 facilities, according to an Aug. 6 NNU news release.
“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,” the union said.
VA said the cuts aim to make it easier to hold poor performers accountable, promote high performers and improve benefits and services to veterans. The department also said the decision will allow staff to spend more time with veterans due to the removal of collective bargaining obligations.
“Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in the release. “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.”
VA stopped withholding union dues from most employees’ paychecks on April 25, following the executive order. Contracts covering approximately 4,000 firefighters, police officers and security guards will remain in place, as those roles are exempt from the order.
NNU said it will continue to pursue legal action in a lawsuit filed April 3, which challenges the executive order, arguing it was an “unconstitutional retaliation against the unions for engaging in activity protected by the First Amendment.”
