The fourth 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.
Yvonne Angel is president of AFGE Local 2157, which represents more than 3,700 employees at the Portland VA Medical Center and other VA facilities in the area. She has been an AFGE member for 15 years, the last of which she’s served as a local officer.
Yvonne became involved in the union after an incident that she felt was unfair. She had been a nurse at the VA for 12 years when a new work schedule was offered to nurses. The preferred schedule, however, was given to new hires who had been with the VA for only three and six months. She felt it wasn’t right but was not sure what to do, so she reached out to her local union, which informed her that indeed it wasn’t fair and that management had violated the contract. The local fought to have the VA fix the situation.
“I was given a tour change because of that. And I thought I’ve been a union member for 12 years and I didn’t even know my rights,” she recalled. “So because of that I needed to know my rights, what management can and cannot do to me or any of my coworkers, so I became a steward with the union and after we got our offices back after Trump, the president at that time asked me to become a chief steward. I did and worked my way up from chief steward to first vice president to president. I’ve been the president now for about a year.”
Yvonne said that moment changed her life. She became more aware of laws and regulations. She talked to her coworkers to spread the word. She even talked to her kids about their working environment and what their employers can and cannot do.
Yvonne believes that the union plays a crucial role in helping the VA accomplish its mission of taking care of veterans. As the local president, she knows about staffing shortages, workload, unfair treatment, and working environment, which directly impact the quality of health care employees provide to veterans.
Listen to Yvonne talk about why it is important that VA employees are treated with dignity and respect and are given the support they need to do their jobs.
AFGE is urging members of Congress to reject legislation introduced last week that would undercut earned benefits for our nation’s military veterans, strip workplace rights and protections from thousands of psychologists at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and push more veterans outside the VA for their health care.
AFGE Council 220 President Jessica LaPointe traveled from Wisconsin last week and delivered a stark message on Capitol Hill about the future of the Social Security Administration.
The House Armed Services Committee approved an amendment to the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would restore collective bargaining rights at the Department of Defense, while also rejecting an amendment that would have lifted the longstanding moratorium on privatizing federal jobs through OMB Circular A-76.
