VA Terminates Labor Union Contracts
On February 20, 2025, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins released an official video on VA.gov, noting, “We’re putting Veterans number one back at the VA,” But apparently, VA employees, veterans or not, are not part of that equation. In the first week of August, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the termination of collective bargaining agreements with employee unions, affecting some 350 thousand VA employees who belong to a labor union.
Department of Veterans Affairs Labor Union Contracts Canceled
The termination of collective bargaining for 350 thousand VA employees is on what some consider to be shaky legal ground.
According to one source, “The legal basis for this move is rooted in the president’s statutory authority to make determinations regarding national security,” noting that a Presidential executive order was used as the authority on that basis to end labor union contracts at the VA.
But in 2025, a host of Presidential executive orders were issued but legally defeated in federal court. Many expect the labor union issue, also created by executive order, to be resolved in a similar fashion. In the meantime, the official position of the VA is clear:
“Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of Veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins, quoted in a VA.gov press release, adding. “We’re making sure VA resources and employees are singularly focused on the job we were sent here to do: providing top-notch care and service to those who wore the uniform.”
Labor Unions and Federal Law
What Collins doesn’t address in his statement is that collective bargaining is a right protected by federal law.
According to the official site of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an official site of the federal government, “The National Labor Relations Act gives you the right to bargain collectively with your employer through a representative that you and your coworkers choose.”
The collective bargaining that has been terminated at the Department of Veterans Affairs is certain to be challenged in court, for reasons up to and including the following statement from the NLRB official site:
“Your union and employer must bargain in good faith about wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment until they agree on a labor contract or reach a stand-off or impasse.”
“If negotiations reach an impasse, an employer can impose terms and conditions so long as it offered them to the union” before the impasse was reached. “Once a contract is in place, neither party may deviate from its terms without the other party’s consent, absent extraordinary circumstances.”
Given the above role of labor unions in the contract negotiation process, some ask how that sort of negotiation fits into VA Secretary Doug Collins’ assertion that “…unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of Veterans…”
Affected Labor Unions
A press release at VA.gov includes a list of unions affected. “VA today notified the following unions that, effective immediately, pursuant to the EO, their contracts with VA have been terminated for most bargaining-unit employees:
- American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE)
- National Association of Government Employees (NAGE)
- National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE)
- National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU)
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
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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.
