Registered nurses at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center will hold a rally on Wednesday, May 21, to demand the administration abandon plans to cut some 80,000 workers from the VA, to reinstate VA workers’ full union rights, and to stop attacks on nurse benefits, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today. The nurses will be joined by members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and allied community organizations.

“Our veterans are feeling the real impact of these attacks on nurses and other federal workers who have dedicated their careers to serving our veterans at the VA,” said Courtney Collins, RN in the Community Living Center (CLC) at the Cincinnati VA. “I’ve experienced firsthand how important it is to have a strong union to protect the nurses and our rights at the VA. Massive staffing cuts are coming to the VAs and nurses are not excluded. This will deteriorate veteran care. VA nurses will never abandon our veterans and will always advocate for our veterans and for ourselves. We refuse to be silent on these alarming issues.”

What: Rally for veteran care with VA nurses, federal workers, and community groups
When: Wednesday, May 21, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Where: Across from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, 3200 Vine Street, Cincinnati

“We were already short-staffed last year and even held an informational picket in May 2024 about the staffing crisis at the Cincinnati VA,” said Loren Colbert, RN in the medical-surgical unit. “Cutting more staff is unthinkable and unconscionable. I am urging leadership not to jeopardize patient safety by balancing the budget off the backs of caregivers. We will not be able to give our veterans the care they need when they need it. It means veterans will die.”

“Our veterans have served our country, and they deserve to get the highest quality care possible at the VA,” said Collins. “We can’t have the best hospital system without adequate staffing for nurses. We are asking our local VA leadership team and the current administration to do the right thing and allow nurses to continue serving the most deserving population of people in the nation — our veterans!”

Background

• On March 27, an executive order was issued that attempts to strip away federal workers’ collective bargaining rights claiming “national security” is at issue. However, in a fact sheet explaining the executive order, it was made clear the executive order was issued because federal employee unions had “declared war” on the administration’s agenda. Nurses contend that the executive order is a retaliatory attempt to punish federal employee unions that have been engaging in constitutionally protected speech.

• In April, NNU joined with other federal-sector unions in a lawsuit to challenge this executive overreach in the courts.

• In addition, nurses are supporting the VA Employee Fairness Act, a federal bill introduced May 7 that will ensure nurses and other VA clinical staff have full bargaining rights as they currently are unable to bargain on issues such as staffing, and other workplace issues that impact care.

• In March 2025, VA management announced they would be taking away 72/80 Alternative Work Schedules and other compressed work schedules that benefited nurses.

Nurses understand that collective bargaining rights are critical as they advocate workplace safety, safe RN-to-patient ratios, and quality working conditions that help recruit and retain experienced nurses. Without union protections, nurses and other workers may feel vulnerable to retaliation and intimidation and be hesitant to speak out about patient safety concerns.

It is against this backdrop that Secretary Collins said he is seeking a reduction in force in the range of 80,000 workers, but he’s refused to offer a concrete number, saying that it, “could be more, could be less.” These cuts would be catastrophic for patient care at the VA, where, according to an August 2024 Inspector General’s report, 82 percent of VA facilities already have severe shortages in nursing staff. In addition, these cuts would come at a time when the VA is seeing historic enrollment.

Nurses contend that these efforts to cut resources at the VA are part of an effort to privatize the system and push more veterans into the private sector, where care is not scrutinized and overseen as in the VA. The VA’s own “Red Team” Executive Roundtable analysis, which reported $30 billion of VA spending on private-sector care in 2023, noted that privatization “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.” 

NNOC/NNU represents more than 700 registered nurses at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. This rally is part of a nationwide campaign that has included rallies in Atlanta, Manhattan, San Diego, and other cities. The union represents more than 15,000 registered nurses at 23 VHA facilities across the country, many of whom are also 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.