U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials announced Friday that the agency is redirecting nearly $45 million from public union costs to care for veterans.
"VA staff will now get to spend more time with Veterans, VA facilities can focus on treating Veterans, and VA can manage its staff according to Veterans' needs and national security requirements, not union demands," VA Secretary Doug Collins said.
Earlier this month, Veterans Affairs canceled its contracts with most unions on Wednesday, saying the unions fight against the best interests of veterans. VA said the move follows President Donald Trump's executive order from March to do away with public employee unions at the federal level after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction that previously stopped 21 agencies from implementing the executive order.
In April, VA stopped withholding union dues from most employees' paychecks.
Unions are fighting back in court. They recently said Collins' decision went against Office of Personnel Management guidance and was "contrary to recent administration representations in court that union contracts were not being terminated."
Join the conversation as a VIP Member