Last week, AFGE’s National Veterans Affairs Council filed its fourth grievance following VA’s “termination” of our national labor contract.
On Aug. 6, VA Secretary Douglas Collins informed AFGE that he was unilaterally terminating the master collective bargaining agreement between AFGE and the VA effective immediately. The only employees retaining their negotiated rights and protections are VA police officers, firefighters, and security guards.
Collins claimed he was acting to implement President Trump’s March 27 executive order, which seeks to strip more than one million federal workers of their union rights. However, VA’s own press release confirmed this union-busting decision had nothing to do with so-called “national security considerations.” His action also is inconsistent with Office of Personnel Management guidance that instructs agencies “not to terminate any CBAs until the conclusion of litigation,” and is contrary to recent administration representations in court that union contracts were not being terminated.
“Secretary Collins’ decision to rip up the negotiated union contract for the 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,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said at the time.
While AFGE continues to pursue its legal challenges and claims in federal court concerning the March 27 executive order, NVAC has thus far filed four national grievances under the negotiated grievance procedure relating to the VA’s numerous violations of the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and the 2023 Master Agreement.
Each of these national grievances address the VA’s violation of numerous articles of the contract and federal law. To date, the department has not yet responded to any of the grievances.
NVAC is asking VA locals to submit additional evidence of harm or examples of these violations to [email protected]. NVAC remains committed to enforcing our contract and the rights of our members.
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