Trump Finds A New Way To Harm Veterans By Union Busting At The VA
The Trump administration announced that it will be terminating the contracts of hundreds of thousands of VA employees in a blatant act of union busting.
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The idea that one of the most hostile presidents to workers' rights would do right by working people if he were returned to the White House was always detached from reality.
Trump has wasted no time in putting his anti-worker agenda into motion. Trump has rolled back overtime rules and denied workers overtime pay that they have deserved. Worker safety and protections are under assault from this administration, but it is what they are doing to the Veterans Administration that is damaging on multiple levels.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler responded after the Trump administration announced that they were terminating the contracts of unionized VA workers:
Every American who cares about the fundamental freedoms of working people should be outraged by this attack on workers’ ability to speak out and stand up at the VA. This union-busting decision is an ambush on the people who care for our country’s veterans and their right to stand together in a union, and will without a doubt harm the lifesaving services veterans desperately need. It’s clear this is explicit retaliation against VA workers whose unions are standing up to the administration’s illegal actions in court and in the streets.
The Trump administration announced that they were taking illegal action against workers in a VA press release:
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs today announced the termination of collective bargaining agreements for most VA bargaining-unit employees, a move that will make it easier for VA leaders to promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America’s Veterans.
….
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); and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
This is union busting, and the move will harm veterans because it is the removal of skilled workers who care for our vets.
The move by the Trump administration isn’t about providing veterans with the best care. Trump has a long history of contempt for those who served.
What the Trump administration is doing to the VA is based on partisan ideology, not sound public policy.
American veterans will receive worse service and care from the VA because the Trump administration wanted to bust unions.
Workers will be harmed. Veterans will be hurt, as a system that has strived to hold up a sacred commitment to those who served their country is being weakened and dismantled.
What do you think about Trump's union busting at the VA? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
How is this even remotely legal? How can he unilaterally cancel union contracts? I hope the unions are in court tomorrow to stop this insanity.
When are veterans' groups going to wake up and realize POS and his administration doesn't give a damn about them? How many of them sat out the election because Biden followed 45's plan for getting out of Afghanistan? They need to own up and start fighting back.