Federal Appeals Court Rules Against VA Anti-Union Practices
The troubled Department of Veterans Affairs, led by Doug Collins, has experienced yet another legal setback in its attempts to quash collective bargaining for VA employees.
Federal Appeals Court Rules Against VA Anti-Union Practices
A federal appeals court has ruled to keep a labor contract in place for roughly 300,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The legal dispute centers on a negotiation between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGA), one of the largest unions representing healthcare workers within the VA system. The conflict began when the VA issued management directives that some felt were aimed at weakening civil service protections, reducing the amount of paid time union representatives could spend on workplace grievances.
The union challenged those directives in court, arguing that the Department of Veterans Affairs could not unilaterally terminate a legally binding contract.
Government Claims
Government attorneys claim the executive branch requires “greater flexibility” to manage federal employees, remove underperforming workers, and modernize agency operations. They argue that rigid union contracts make it “too difficult” to carry out reform or hold problematic staff accountable.
But should the Department of Veterans’ workforce really be a one-way street with management holding all the cards?
Civil service protections are necessary to prevent VA healthcare workers from losing their jobs due to arbitrary decisions and political pressure. Federal News Network reports that some on the plaintiff side believe the VA has not negotiated in good faith.
AFGE National VA Council President MJ Burke said in a Federal News Network article that “for nearly two months, the VA has tried every which way to get around complying” with a preliminary injunction in the case.
Is the VA Above the Law?
“The decisions of Judge DuBose and the First Circuit make clear that the courts will hold the VA accountable. No one is above the law,” Burke said. The VA has claimed that reinstating collective bargaining would cause the agency so-called irreparable harm. But the burden of proof is on the Doug Collins Department of Veterans to prove that’s true. At press time, that proof doesn’t seem to be available.
Without court intervention in this case, local hospital managers would have the power to alter work schedules, modify overtime rules, and reassign clinical staff without going through the established collective bargaining process.
The 300,000 employees covered by this contract do not just work in hospitals; they also staff regional offices that handle VA disability claims, housing allowances, and VA educational benefits.
What’s Next
At press time, affected VA union workers remain protected by their contracts, and the federal appeals court agreed to preserve the current contract while a broader lawsuit moves through the judicial system.
This is only the start of the lawsuit process in many ways, with the appeals court decision an interim measure designed to prevent harm while the underlying merits of the lawsuit are argued. This is a developing story.
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
