{"id":130814,"date":"2025-08-06T21:12:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T21:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:34:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:34:32","slug":"va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","title":{"rendered":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/08\/05\/va-to-ease-authorization-rules-for-some-outside-care-raising-concerns\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/08\/05\/va-to-ease-authorization-rules-for-some-outside-care-raising-concerns\/\">Veterans Affairs leaders<\/a> on Wednesday announced plans to terminate nearly all of its collective bargaining contracts with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/06\/unite-for-vets-rally-calls-for-trump-to-abandon-planned-cuts-at-va\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/06\/unite-for-vets-rally-calls-for-trump-to-abandon-planned-cuts-at-va\/\">federal unions<\/a>, upending employment agreements for hundreds of thousands of department workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move affects members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/2019\/06\/07\/va-and-union-contract-fight-escalates-to-nationwide-rallies\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/2019\/06\/07\/va-and-union-contract-fight-escalates-to-nationwide-rallies\/\">American Federation of Government Employees<\/a>, the AFL-CIO (AFGE), the National Association of Government Employees (NAGE), the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/budget\/2024\/06\/06\/nurses-rally-in-dc-call-for-immediate-hiring-of-va-medical-staff\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/budget\/2024\/06\/06\/nurses-rally-in-dc-call-for-immediate-hiring-of-va-medical-staff\/\">National Nurses Organizing Committee\/National Nurses United <\/a>(NNOC\/NNU) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AFGE alone represents about 300,000 employees working for VA. About 80% of the department\u2019s roughly 450,000-person staff are union members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department officials said the move was made to \u201cmake it easier for VA leaders to promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America\u2019s veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-terminates-union-contracts-for-most-bargaining-unit-employees\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-terminates-union-contracts-for-most-bargaining-unit-employees\/\">In a statement<\/a>, VA Secretary Doug Collins attacked the unions as inefficient and harmful to veterans\u2019 care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToo often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure VA resources and employees are singularly focused on the job we were sent here to do: providing top-notch care and service to those who wore the uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/budget\/2024\/06\/06\/nurses-rally-in-dc-call-for-immediate-hiring-of-va-medical-staff\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_4907.jpeg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Nurses rally in DC, call for immediate hiring of VA medical staff<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">After record hiring in 2023, official say the VHA&#039;s workforce is at its highest point in history.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members of President Donald Trump\u2019s administration have fought with union officials for months. In April, VA stopped withholding union dues from most employee paychecks, citing an executive order excluding some federal agencies from labor-management relations programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wednesday\u2019s move does not impact unions representing 4,000 VA police officers, firefighters and security guards. Officials said the executive order does not apply to those positions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Union leaders for months have protested against proposed cuts at VA and other federal agencies, arguing the smaller staffs will hurt delivery of benefits and health care. They\u2019ve also accused Collins of working to \u201cprivatize\u201d VA services by sending more money for medical appointments into civilian hospitals and medical offices, rather than VA clinics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unions have also filed numerous lawsuits against the president\u2019s proposed changes to the federal bureaucracy. On Monday, a federal appeals court paused a preliminary injunction that had blocked department heads from making changes to collective bargaining agreements, allowing Wednesday\u2019s contract terminations to move ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, AFGE National President Everett Kelley called the ruling \u201ca setback for fundamental rights in America\u201d and promised continued opposition to Trump\u2019s proposals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement after Wednesday\u2019s announcement, Kelley criticized Collins for attacking VA workers\u2019 rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The] decision to rip up the negotiated union contract for majority of its workforce is another clear example of retaliation against AFGE members for speaking out against the illegal, anti-worker, and anti-veteran policies of this administration,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t apologize for protecting veteran healthcare and will continue to fight for our members and the veterans they care for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials from National Nurses United accused the Trump adminstration of \u201cwaging class warfare against working people of America\u201d and similarly promised continued legal challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis president has made it clear he has no respect for the Constitution, but we believe strongly that our right to join together to collectively bargain is constitutionally protected,\u201d the group said in a statement. \u201cIt cannot be swept away through an overreach of an executive order based on spurious claims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials said that in addition to eliminating unneeded restrictions on hiring and firing policies, breaking union contracts will free up more than 187,000 square feet of office space currently being used by group representatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the start of 2025, federal unions represented more than 1.3 million government workers across a host of agencies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 80% of VA&#8217;s roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":25,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","education-transition","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"5":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","education-transition","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"6":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","education-transition","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"7":{"categories":["veterans","pentagon-congress","education-transition","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"veterans"},"8":{"categories":["fedlife","federal-oversight","career","home","management","daily-brief","newsletters"],"primary_category":"fedlife"}}},"categories":[9,29,15,35,86,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3347],"class_list":["post-130814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-transition","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"22QIL6YPFNEP3DD7OKVWU66TKY","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"About 80% of VA&#039;s roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About 80% of VA&#039;s roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 596,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Education &amp; Transition\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                \"Veterans\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts - Military Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"About 80% of VA's roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/06\\\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Veterans\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/veterans\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"veterans\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Military Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts - Military Times","description":"About 80% of VA's roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts","og_description":"About 80% of VA's roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","og_site_name":"Military Times","article_published_time":"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00","author":"Leo Shane III","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Shane III","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts","datePublished":"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/"},"wordCount":596,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg","articleSection":["Education &amp; Transition","Home","News","Newsletters","Pentagon &amp; Congress","Veterans"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/","name":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts - Military Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-06T21:12:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T16:34:32+00:00","description":"About 80% of VA's roughly 450,000 employees are union members, but the department will no longer honor its contracts with the bargaining units.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2025\/08\/06\/va-severs-ties-with-most-federal-unions-terminating-worker-contracts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Veterans","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/","ad_zone":"veterans"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"VA severs ties with most federal unions, terminating worker contracts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","name":"Military Times","description":"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization","name":"Military Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","caption":"Military Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Military Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8039.JPG_5f7989.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130820,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130814\/revisions\/130820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130814"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=130814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}