Washington DC – veterans and union members, are demonstrating throughout the country, demanding the Trump Administration respect union workers and restore Veteran Affairs (VA) workers’ collective bargaining rights. The following are statements by union leaders.
“Working people have no illusions about what just happened at the Department of Veterans Affairs: By cutting off union contracts, the Trump Administration has launched a disgusting attack on working people and veterans everywhere that we will not forget or forgive,” said SEIU International President April Verrett. “Working people will hold the Trump administration accountable for this action and every move they have made to undermine our unions, rip away our healthcare, and dismantle public services to put more money in the pockets of billionaires and corporations. We won’t back down and we won’t be silent.”
“VA workers show up every day to deliver lifesaving care to our nation’s veterans, protecting patient safety and ensuring quality care. Being in a union helps keep workloads safe and staff turnover low, making the VA more efficient and effective for the veterans it serves. The Trump administration’s policies are causing widespread staffing shortages, longer wait times, and eliminating the workers who staff the crisis hotline—and when workers and their unions stood up, the administration ripped up their contracts in retaliation,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The labor movement will continue to fight this all-out assault on workers and veterans with everything we have, and we’re calling on Americans across this country to join us.”
“Union members who work at the VA are united against the Trump administration’s attacks on our collective bargaining rights and attempts to privatize the VA because we know what our nation’s veterans need to get the high-quality healthcare they deserve. Attacks on VA unions are attacks on veterans everywhere,” said AFGE President Everett Kelley. “We don’t apologize for protecting veteran health care and will continue to fight for our members and the veterans they care for.”
“This isn’t just an attack on VA workers’ rights, it is an attack on the very veterans who have sacrificed for our nation. By gutting collective bargaining agreements, the Trump Administration is jeopardizing the quality of care that our heroes rely on. We call on all Americans to join us in this day of action to stand for veterans, stand for unions, and demand the immediate restoration of these essential protections,” said Naveed Shah, Army veteran and Common Defense’s Political Director.
Working people organizing with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), National Nurses United (NNU), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and their allies are set to rally Friday, August 15 at VA facilities in cities from coast-to-coast amid the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on veteran healthcare and VA worker unions.
