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VA Union: Congressman Seeks to Undermine Rights of Veterans’ Advocates
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) ^ | March 13, 2017 | AFGE's National President J. David Cox, Sr

Posted on 03/13/2017 3:34:33 PM PDT by mdittmar

Rep. Arrington's anti-union bill would erode working conditions at VA facilities, AFGE says

WASHINGTON – Union-busting legislation affecting workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs would wreck the agency's ability to serve veterans, said J. David Cox Sr., a former VA nurse who now leads the largest union representing VA workers, the American Federation of Government Employees.

President Cox issued the following statement on H.R. 1461, which was introduced by Rep. Jody Arrington of Texas:

"Congressman Arrington's bill is nothing but union busting, an attempt to silence the men and women who care for veterans at VA facilities. The bill's message is that these patriotic Americans, more than a third of whom are veterans themselves, are somehow responsible for instances of agency mismanagement. The truth is that managers and political appointees are responsible for mismanagement, not the frontline employees Representative Arrington is attacking.

"Workers at the VA need protection from dishonest, inept, and corrupt VA management just as much as veterans do. That's why they vote to join together in a union that can stand up and tell the public about waste, fraud, and abuse.

"Representative Arrington's bill, parading as a way to protect veterans from the very people who protect and care for them, would make it almost impossible for elected union shop stewards and local presidents to do the work current law promotes: resolving conflict and helping management make more informed and pro-veteran decisions on resource allocation, training, technology needs. These are laws that have led to resolving conflict and helping management make more informed and pro-veteran decisions on resource allocation, training, technology needs. These are laws that have led to good public administration for more than four decades, and this bill would effectively throw the whole structure into chaos.

"Those bent on undermining the VA to the point where privatization will start looking like the only alternative should cheer this bill. But anyone who cherishes the excellence of the VA health care system and recognizes its extraordinary cost-effectiveness should go all out to defeat it.

"Rep. Arrington's bill does two main things. It takes away the ability of agency leaders and hospital directors and their employee representatives to determine the appropriate amount of time needed for formal agency labor-management relations, and it destabilizes the union by inviting members to withdraw from the union on a daily basis.

"No one should be fooled by the false rhetoric surrounding Rep. Arrington's bill. It will hurt care at VA hospitals, it will hurt efforts to recruit high-quality personnel for the 45,000 positions currently vacant, and it will undermine accountability to the public to such a degree that we will never hear about mismanagement, waste, fraud, and abuse until it is far too late."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Well,You wouldn't want to destabilize the union,that would be down right destabilizing;)
1 posted on 03/13/2017 3:34:33 PM PDT by mdittmar
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To: mdittmar

Give every Veteran the same health insurance plan congress gets, when they need care they can go to VA hospital or the local MD.


2 posted on 03/13/2017 3:41:21 PM PDT by Emergencyawesome
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To: mdittmar

Bust the VA union! Get rid of the people who underperform and think they are entitled to work in a government position because somehow they are better than Vets having never served themselves.

Most government jobs are nothing more than a separate welfare system anyways. Quit treating these jobs like welfare entitlements and the govt might actually change.


3 posted on 03/13/2017 3:54:35 PM PDT by zaxtres
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To: Emergencyawesome; KC_Lion; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; TWhiteBear; ...
”Image

Give Every Veteran the Same health insurance plan congress gets, when they need care they can go to VA hospital or the local MD.

4 posted on 03/13/2017 4:06:09 PM PDT by LucyT
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To: mdittmar

“Union-busting legislation affecting workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs would wreck the agency’s ability to serve veterans”

He’s got his work cut out for him if that’s the tack they are going to take.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a statement that incredible from a Federal worker.


5 posted on 03/13/2017 4:06:21 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Emergencyawesome; mdittmar

>Give every Veteran the same health insurance plan congress gets, when they need care they can go to VA hospital or the local MD.

No, you make every govt employee and elected official use the VA, behind any/every vet, of course.

Then, watch how quickly things move in D.C.


6 posted on 03/13/2017 4:22:05 PM PDT by i_robot73 ("A man chooses. A slave obeys." - Andrew Ryan)
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To: mdittmar

The Union works for the Union and often colludes with management against the workers. I’ve seen a union rep caught giving copies of grievance files to management or mysteriously “losing” them. The pumishment was..... a promotion.6


7 posted on 03/13/2017 4:29:47 PM PDT by Seruzawa (I keel you Vorga feelthy.)
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To: mdittmar

A little over 18 months ago the orchestrated willful inefficiency of the VA killed one of my best friends through delayed diagnosis. I hope everyone of those unionized €astards looses their jobs.


8 posted on 03/13/2017 5:15:10 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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