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New Legislation Seeks to Grant Collective Bargaining Rights to VA Health Care Workers
On Wednesday, a significant legislative effort was revived as over 100 House members reintroduced the VA Employees Fairness Act (H.R. 9855), aimed at establishing complete federal sector collective bargaining rights for health care professionals at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Championed by Rep. Mark Takano, a Democrat from California, the proposed legislation seeks to amend the restrictions currently placed under Title 38 of the U.S. Code, which governs many VA health care workers, including doctors and nurses. In contrast, most federal employees are classified under Title 5, which allows slightly broader bargaining rights.
The current structure under Title 38 significantly limits VA health care workers in their ability to negotiate over key areas such as compensation, peer review processes, and issues of professional conduct. While employees under Title 5 also face restrictions regarding pay negotiations, the limitations imposed on Title 38 employees can hinder collective bargaining on scheduling and correcting payroll discrepancies.
Previous administrations, particularly the Trump administration, have broadened the interpretation of Title 38’s limitations, particularly in ways that have been criticized by labor advocates. For instance, the VA made a controversial decision to eliminate “official time” for Title 38 employees, which allowed union representatives to be compensated for time spent on union activities. This move was justified by the administration under the premise that it affected “direct patient care.”
“VA health care workers work tirelessly to provide high-quality care to our nation’s veterans and their families,” Rep. Takano emphasized in a statement supporting the legislation. “This bill would grant these essential workers the collective bargaining rights that they deserve and have been fighting for, as well as help VA improve employee retention. This is the right thing to do.”
Unions representing VA employees swiftly voiced their support for the bill’s reintroduction. Alma Lee, president of the American Federation of Government Employees’ VA Council, noted, “For decades, our union has sounded the alarm about how the lack of collective bargaining rights and fair working conditions has driven thousands of VA health care providers, a third of whom are veterans themselves, to the private sector. On behalf of the 304,000 VA employees our union represents, 75,000 of whom would be impacted by this law, we applaud Rep. Takano for introducing critical legislation that provides voice to those who work day and night to provide the highest quality of care to our nation’s veterans.”
Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, added, “Health care providers across the federal government are afforded collective bargaining rights, except for those caring for our nation’s veterans. The dedicated nurses, physicians, physician assistants, dentists, and other clinicians serving within the VA deserve the ability to collectively bargain on key topics as it relates to fulfilling their critical mission of providing the very highest standard of care. VA professional clinicians must have the opportunity to bring issues affecting veterans’ health care to the bargaining table for discussion.”
Despite the strong backing from lawmakers and union leaders, the bill faces a challenging path forward. With only three months remaining in the current congressional session and an extensive pre-election recess scheduled for October, the legislation is unlikely to achieve passage this year, especially considering the Republican majority in the House. Currently, among the bill’s 104 co-sponsors, only two are Republicans: Rep. Don Bacon from Nebraska and Guam’s non-voting Congressman James Moylan.
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