Nurses at the Manhattan VA rallied in early April, demanding an end to staffing cuts and to protect our collective bargaining rights. Photo from the National Nurses United Facebook page
WASHINGTON, DC – According to VA union leaders, President Donald Trump and VA officials are targeting unions involved in lawsuits against the administration, stripping millions of federal workers of collective bargaining rights, while rewarding those who stay silent.
In March, Trump signed an executive order removing collective-bargaining rights from unions at multiple federal agencies, including VA. The order instructs agencies to end union rights and union contracts and discontinue all grievance procedures.
It also instructs them to end allotments of union dues through agency payroll systems, forcing members to pay their dues through a separate process. It instructs VA to reinstitute the use of a legislative process that allows them to expedite the firing of employees. The procedure had been discontinued following several successful lawsuits by terminated employees. It could also remove telework options from employees if those options are provisions in collective-bargaining agreements.
As justification for the order, the president cited a provision in the 1978 Civil Service Reform Act that allows him to declare the work done by these agencies to be a matter of national security and thus ineligible for collective bargaining by unions. The reasoning given for including VA in that list is that it serves as a backstop healthcare provider for troops during wartime and during national emergencies.
The president gave agency heads the power to exempt some unions from the order as they see fit, however. In April, VA Secretary Douglas Collins submitted a notice in the Federal Register exempting eight small unions, such as the International Association of Firefighters at the Little Rock VAMC and the Veterans Affairs Staff Nurse Council Local 5032 at the Milwaukee VAMC.
Not mentioned in the notice are any of the large VA unions, which are involved in one or more lawsuits stemming from the administration’s recent mass firings of VA employees.
Union leaders are citing Collins’ notice as evidence that the president’s order has less to do with national security and more with punishing unions who defend workers’ rights. They are also pointing to a White House Fact Sheet detailing the reasons for the executive order. In it, the White House says the order is necessary because “certain federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda” and the largest federal union, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is “widely filing grievances to block Trump policies.”
AFGE and other federal unions have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Northern California, alleging that the executive order is retaliation against employees engaged in constitutionally protected free speech.
“[This] is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants—nearly one-third of whom are veterans—simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “From VA nurses to EPA scientists to cybersecurity experts, these workers have always operated under collective bargaining without compromising national security. This move is not about protection—it’s about power.”
Kelley noted that federal unions cannot negotiate over pay, benefits or hiring and firing decisions. Unlike private-sector unions, they are limited to bargaining over conditions of employment. Federal employees are also barred from striking.
Consequently, federal unions are primarily involved with how employees are treated while on the job. According to National Nurses United president Nancy Hagans, that also translates to how patients are treated.
“The VA nurses rely on collective bargaining to advocate for patient safety and ensure the best care for our veterans—most of whom are over 45 years old and many of whom have a disability,” she said in a statement. “Without these bargaining rights, we risk retaliation for speaking up and holding our employers accountable. Our veterans deserve nurses who can fight for their care without fear.”
Trump’s order has received pushback from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. In a joint letter, Sens. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mark Warner (D-VA) urged the president to reconsider.
“[Laws allowing federal labor unions were created] in part, to reduce labor strife, improve agencies’ recruitment and retention efforts, and make the federal government writ large a better, more productive, and more efficient organization,” they wrote.
The senators noted that unions have long been able to exist in national security agencies, including DoD’s civilian workforce.
“The presence of collective bargaining rights has created a more stable and productive workforce and has allowed the federal government to better meet the needs of our constituents,” they wrote. “Further, sudden changes to labor-management relations are disruptive to the work of the federal workforce and will result in the loss of valuable federal workers with knowledge and skills critical to completing their respective agency’s missions.”
