{"id":24986,"date":"2022-12-16T17:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T17:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/12\/16\/houses-passes-bill-safeguarding-bargaining-rights-for-va-employees\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:01:26","slug":"houses-passes-bill-safeguarding-bargaining-rights-for-va-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2022\/12\/16\/houses-passes-bill-safeguarding-bargaining-rights-for-va-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Houses passes bill safeguarding bargaining rights for VA employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The House voted 219 to 201 to pass a bill Thursday expanding collective bargaining rights for health care employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VA Employee Fairness Act would allow previously restricted issues to be subject to bargaining by Title 38 employees, including professional conduct, peer review and pay errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it passes the Senate, the bill would also allow VA doctors, dentists, registered nurses, physician assistants and others to report inefficiencies and potentially dangerous policies or incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to fill VA\u2019s 39,000 vacancies, we need to ensure VA can continue to recruit and retain top tier medical professionals and provide exemplary care for our nation\u2019s veterans,\u201d said House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs Chairman Mark Takano when the bill was introduced<\/a> in 2021. \u201cBy granting these essential healthcare workers full collective bargaining rights, our bill will help make that possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Erwin, national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, said that the bill comes at a critical time when the VA is dealing with significant staffing and funding issues. In the coming years, the department is expecting to treat <\/i>3 million more veterans in the VA health care system after the passage of the PACT Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe medical practitioners employed by the VA are the very best healthcare professionals across the United States,\u201d said Erwin in a statement. \u201cBecause of this, it is critical that they are allowed to share their professional opinions on matters within their facilities and collectively bargain with management<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden-Harris administration also endorsed the bill <\/a>in writing. President Joe Biden has repeatedly vouched for federal labor protections and has taken several steps through executive orders and the Office of Personnel Management to reverse Trump-era policies that made employee discipline processes more direct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining the balance of power<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Takano, a Democrat representing California, said the bill simply equalizes bargaining rights for more than 100,000 frontline VA healthcare workers that their peers in other departments already have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVA nurses or technicians should be able to point out wrongdoing without fear of losing their job or other forms of retaliation,\u201d he said \u201cThis outdated provision in federal law has become an excuse for VA to deny workers the benefits they have rightfully earned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill, widely supported by federal employee advocates, received criticism for curtailing the final word of the secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s simple: Congress should not remove the Secretary\u2019s responsibility to veterans and begin allowing non-medical third-party arbitrators to decide issues of direct patient care and clinical competence at VA,\u201d said Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans\u2019 Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under current law, the secretary has broad authority to regulate the hours and conditions of employment for medical professionals employed by the Veterans Health Administration, according to the bill\u2019s House report. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takano dismissed Bost\u2019s concerns, saying that the bill does not create a free-for-all power grab, nor does it lift other federal barriers on bargaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that the law still restricts VA workers from striking and bars collective bargaining over the level of their pay, which is set by pay grades. The bill would open other forms of compensation, such as awards, bonuses, overtime, and special scheduling arrangements, to bargaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of budgetary effect, the bill could increase personnel costs for the agency since collective bargaining has been known to increase pay in some cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compensation for VHA personnel is funded through annual appropriations, which in 2020, included about $17 billion for this group of employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder current law, almost all federal employees have basic worker protections through collective bargaining,\u201d Takano said. \u201cThis has long been part of the fabric of the federal workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rep. 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