The VA noted that since April it had stopped withholding union dues from most employees’ paychecks. The federal government’s move also has affected employees working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The VA said the following unions are affected: The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE); National Association of Government Employees; National Federation of Federal Employees; National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United; and the Service Employees International Union.
The AFGE said it was assessing its options to challenge the move.
“Secretary Collins’ decision to rip up the negotiated union contract for 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 in a statement.
The VA said the decision was “good news” for veterans and their families. The department said, for example, that last year more than 1,900 unionized VA employees spent more than 750,000 hours of work on “taxpayer-funded union time.”
“Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “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.”
A spokeswoman for the Dayton VA Medical Center could not immediately say how many local workers are impacted by this decision. Earlier this year, there were about 2,355 full-time employees at the Dayton VA Medical Center.
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