The 10th episode of AFGE’s new series, The Activist, highlighting our union members who have stepped up to help make a difference in the lives of their colleagues and our government.
Dave Bump is AFGE Local 2157 second vice president at the Veterans Benefit Administration in Portland, Oregon. He grew up in a union family and joined AFGE because he wanted to have a voice on the job. He has been an AFGE member for 22 years.
Dave first got involved in the union when he worked in the Milwaukee regional office, first as a steward. When the local vice president for VBA was retiring, he was asked to fulfill the rest of his term before being elected to more terms. Once he moved to Portland, he got involved in the union the same way, by volunteering first and then getting elected.
Being a union officer allows him to meet new people, travel to help different union members he represents, and provide great diversity in his days since he also does a lot of work for the National VA Council as a national representative.
Listen to Dave talk about his job at the VBA and how it helps veterans:
Since taking office in January 2025, President Trump has issued a series of unlawful executive orders, and taken several unlawful actions, seeking to shut down congressionally mandated agencies, fire and displace federal workers, outlaw their unions, and gut merit systems protections.
A federal judge has ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to reinstate the union contract covering 320,000 VA employees represented by AFGE in a major victory over the implementation of President Trump’s union-busting executive orders.
As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown reaches the one-month mark with no end in sight, AFGE leaders are calling on Congress to ensure all DHS workers are paid.