On August 6, 2025, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ended collective bargaining agreements with unions representing 377,000 employees, 80% of its 483,000-person workforce, including nurses, doctors, and support staff. This follows President Trump’s March 27, 2025, executive order excluding “national security” agencies like the VA from federal labor programs. VA Secretary Doug Collins justified the move, citing 750,000 hours spent on union activities in 2024 as a distraction from veteran care. “Our focus must be on veterans, not union agendas,” he stated.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 300,000 VA workers, and National Nurses United (NNU), representing 15,000 nurses, condemned the terminations as retaliation for opposing 83,000 planned job cuts and privatization efforts costing $30 billion in 2023. NNU warned that losing protections for staffing ratios and workplace safety could worsen care quality, with 82% of VA facilities already facing severe nursing shortages. A 2025 net loss of 1,882 nurses and 201 psychologists heightens concerns about staff turnover and delayed veteran services.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the policy an effort to “silence dissent,” urging inspectors general at over 50 agencies to evaluate its impacts. He supports the VA Employee Fairness Act to restore bargaining rights for nurses and clinicians, who face restrictions on negotiating staffing issues. Critics, including AFGE, argue that privatization, not union activities, drives inefficiencies, citing poorer outcomes in outsourced care.
Unions filed a lawsuit on April 3, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenging the executive order as a violation of First Amendment rights and the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. A Ninth Circuit ruling on August 1, 2025, lifted an injunction, allowing terminations to proceed, but unions vowed to continue legal action, noting the VA ignored OPM guidance to delay until litigation concludes.
The VA plans to eliminate 72,000–80,000 positions by fiscal year-end 2025. With staffing shortages and morale concerns mounting, unions and lawmakers warn that veteran care quality is at risk, while the administration insists efficiency gains will benefit veterans.
