Nurses, crisis hotline staff, doctors, health techs, and critical VA staff protest massive cuts, attacks on federal workers’ union rights

National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) and American Federation of Government Employees Local 518 (AFGE Local 518) will hold a protest on Saturday, April 26 in response to the current administration’s directive for large-scale reductions-in-force (RIFs) and elimination of union workers’ collective bargaining rights.

The VA secretary has said the administration intends to cut between 72,000 to 80,000 workers from the VA to reduce staffing to 2019 levels. These cuts would be catastrophic for patient care at the VA: according to an August 2024 Inspector General’s report, 82 percent of VA facilities already have severe shortages in nursing staff. These shortages will clearly grow if staffing is unable to keep up with rising enrollment numbers.

“We need to ensure that we have the resources and staff available to provide high-quality, therapeutic care to every veteran who needs and wants it,” said Dana Horton, RN and NNU director in Atlanta. NNU represents RNs in the Atlanta VA Medical Center. “We are already seeing staffing shortages that jeopardize  patient care. Our ancillary staff is critical in our mission to our veterans. Without secretaries, housekeepers, supply technicians, and other support staff, nurses are forced to take on additional duties, and are unnecessarily ripped away from patient care. We need to make the VA whole, so we can fulfill our promise to our veterans.”

“Our veterans deserve timely access to care, not delays,” said Erika Alexander, President of AFGE Local 518. AFGE Local 518 represents crisis responders who work on the Veterans Crisis Hotline and member services. “These cuts will have devastating consequences: delayed mental health appointments, pharmacy issues, benefit enrollment backlogs, and disrupted services that veterans rely on daily. We’re already seeing staff shortages. Now is the time to strengthen the VA, not strip it down.”

“We call on all elected officials to publicly oppose these reckless RIFs and stand with federal workers in protecting veteran care,” continued Alexander. “Congress has the power to stop this, and agency heads must be urged to reject any further implementation of these cuts. The future of our veterans’ health depends on it.”

What: NNOC/NNU nurses, AFGE members, and other federal workers protesting dangerous reductions-in-force 
When: Sat. April 26, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm 
Where: Atlanta VA Medical Center, 1670 Clairmont Rd, Decatur, Ga. 

This public protest will include federal workers, community leaders, and union allies including AFGE Local 2778 (Atlanta VA), Centers for Disease Control employees, and TSA workers.  

VA reductions are happening amidst the presidential administration’s unprecedented attack on federal employees’ protected union rights. NNU and AFGE, along with other labor unions representing federal government workers across the country, sued the Trump administration this month over the president’s attempt to override federal collective bargaining rights through executive order and strip more than 1 million federal government employees of their union rights.

Federal workers understand the VA is facing an existential threat, as a result of the private sector siphoning billions of taxpayer dollars from the public system. The VA’s own “Red Team” Executive Roundtable analysis reported VA spending on private-sector care rose to $30 billion in fiscal year 2023. The authors noted the cost of this private-sector care “threaten[s] to materially erode the VA’s direct-care system and create a potential unintended consequence of eliminating choice for the millions of Veterans who prefer to use the VHA direct care system for all or part of their medical care needs.” 

“We know veterans want to be seen in the VA because they know the care is specialized towards their needs,” said Dana Horton, RN. “But our staffing is not keeping up with the needs of our veterans.” 

National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.