Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Chuy Garcia will join rally against massive cuts and unprecedented attacks on federal employees’ protected union rights

Registered nurses at Hines VA Medical Center in Hines, Ill. will hold a rally on Saturday, May 10, to demand the administration abandon plans to cut some 80,000 workers from the VA and to reinstate VA workers’ full union rights, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) today. The nurses will be joined by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Chuy Garcia (IL-04) as well members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), 50501, ARISE, Chicago Federation of Labor, Jobs for Justice, and allied veterans organizations.

“Veterans are feeling the real effects of this two-pronged attack on nurses and other federal workers who have dedicated their professional lives to the VA,” said Alicia Brown, a registered nurse. “This administration is trying to bust our union as the VA Secretary is calling for massive staffing cuts that will deteriorate veteran care. But nurses will never abandon our patients. Despite the attacks on our union rights, we take our role as veteran advocates as a solemn duty and we will not be silenced. We are clear our veterans are due all that was promised to them, and we intend to make sure they have access to the highest quality of care at the VA.”

“Our veterans made the greatest sacrifice when they put their lives on the line to protect our nation,” said Sen. Durbin. “The least we can do is ensure they are well taken care of at home, which means protecting the rights of nurses and other federal employees who ensure veterans receive the care they deserve. I will continue advocating for federal support for our VA hospitals here in Illinois.”

What:  Rally for veteran care with Sen. Dick Durbin, Rep. Chuy Garcia, VA nurses, federal workers, and veteran groups

When:  Sat. May 10 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Hines VA Hospital, 5000 S. 5th Ave, Hines, Ill.
Nurses will be gathering outside the main entrance on Roosevelt Road

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.

Nurses understand that collective bargaining rights are critical as they advocate for workplace safety, safe nurse-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 this week, “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.

“We are already seeing a staffing crisis in our facility, where we have too few nurses and not enough ancillary staff to respond as quickly as we need to patient needs,” said Patrick Gavin, a registered nurse. “When we lose housekeeping staff, transport staff, or health tech staff, the nurses are left to pick up the slack. That means nurses are distributing meal trays, answering phones, grabbing water for patients, and throwing out trash, all of which takes us away from our nursing duties and patient care. As it is, we are already running from patient to patient; we cannot imagine how we will provide the respectful, dignified care we want to provide with fewer people.”

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 1,100 registered nurses at the Hines 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.