Repudiated Master Agreement AFGE Accountability

Veterans Affairs Strips Employee Rights, Repudiates Master Agreement

The Department of Veterans Affairs just repudiated its 7-year agreement with AFGE Union to allow certain employees like doctors and nurses the right to union representation during a disciplinary hearing or removal hearing.

In 2017, President Donald Trump signed legislation into law that originated under the Obama Administration aimed at holding high-level agency executives accountable. But reports from within the agency, and from my own personal experience representing good VA employees against the agency reveals the agency is using the law to streamline firing of whistleblowers and employees with EEO claims for discrimination.

The effect of the law is to fire rank and file employees, many of whom are disabled veterans, while many criminally minded VA leaders clean house of employees who stand for truth and honor.

Nice bait and switch. I personally supported accountability and the protection of whistleblowers to root out evil leaders. What we have now is a culture that actually reinforces the status quo by allowing retaliation against whistleblowers.

The only accountability appears to be focused on silencing those willing to push back against wrongdoers.

AFGE Complaint

AFGE filed a complaint against the agency for its repeated violations of the bargaining agreement from 2011. In response, on May 21 in a notice of repudiation, Trump’s VA thumbed its nose at the agreement asserting the accountability law from 2017, 38 USC § 714 wipes out many employee rights.

VA’s Curt Cashour Responds

VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour said the provision in question “interferes with federal law,” adding: “VA never should have agreed to it in the first place.”

“Federal Labor Relations Authority precedent clearly allows federal departments and agencies lawfully to repudiate a collective bargaining agreement clause that is nonnegotiable under the statute because the clause interferes with a federal law,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing in this case.”

The law makes a lot of changes to the procedures related to termination including reducing the number of days an employee can contest their proposed denial. What it does not clearly address is the employees right to an oral hearing, but VA seemingly maintains the law strips out that right for Title 5 employees, too.

According to Cashour, even though the law addresses what to do when procedures conflict the new law, we should instead throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Basically, the department isn’t overtly defying the law, but it is hiding behind an obvious misinterpretation of how the law interacts with existing procedures and statutes not squarely addressed in § 714.

In fact, one sentence in the new VA Accountability Act — “the procedures under chapter 43 of Title 5 shall not apply to a removal, demotion or suspension” — lets VA off the hook for the procedures contained in policies based on the old statute.

But those procedures, as defined by § 714 appear to modify procedures limited to the amount of time a person has to rebut a proposed termination, but not a right to union representation or to an oral hearing. Those are rights based on longstanding constitutional requirements, not procedures like having 7 days to respond to allegations instead of 30 days. The law was aimed at speeding up the process of termination, not claiming these federal employees no longer have constitutional rights.

However, VA does not see it that way and instead interprets that law as totally wiping out virtually all rights and procedures not consistent with what the agency wants.

AFGE Pushback

Jacque Simon, the public policy director of AFGE, reports she sees the move as a “shot across the bow” and expects the Trump administration to roll back more federal worker protections in the months ahead.

“This basically takes our collective bargaining agreement and just rips some pages out, taking away something that’s been in effect legally for many years,” she said. “These boards are life and death — whether your professional standards are certified and whether you have a job. Now you can’t have your union represent you at those hearings.”

In the few cases I have worked on recently involving disabled veterans wrongly fired from the agency, I have seen what non-veteran senior leaders are doing to disabled veterans.

It is shameful.

If veterans seek reasonable accommodations or make EEO claims, they are swiftly fired from the agency using any number of tools under the Accountability Act to trump up charges premised on lawful (and even encouraged) acts of whistleblowing.

Based on this development, you can count on increased corruption and increased hostility against disabled veterans employed by the agency in rank and file positions.

Another Take

On the other hand, now many VA employees are experiencing the same heavy-handed and arbitrarily abusive treatment veterans received from those many of those same rank and file employees who improperly and dispassionately denied disability benefits and other claims without accountability of any kind.

Last December, VA told AFGE it wanted to renegotiate the master agreement, but the agency appears emboldened at this point and seems to be moving forward with arrangements without considering the will of employees.

I hate to say it, but what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Many veterans are impacted negatively whenever VA employees ignore our rights. Now, those same employees are getting a taste of that same medicine.

But it is too bad the politics of fear and reprisal are running rampant throughout the agency impacting many veteran employees.

Source: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/trumps-va-strips-protection-from-workers-contract

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25 Comments

  1. The VA is the most corrupt of all federal agencies and as such has the worst employees anywhere in the federal system. That said here is a great piece on why the AFGE union leaders are all crying now about the changes. They are losing there free office space and pay for working union business while they are out lobbying to keep the status quo. As Nelson on the Simpsons would sum it up “Ha Ha”.

    Trump Makes It Easier to Fire Federal Workers for Misconduct
    AP/Patrick Semansky, Friday, 25 May 2018 07:16 PM

    “President Donald Trump on Friday signed a trio of executive orders to overhaul the federal bureaucracy by making it easier to fire federal workers for poor performance and misconduct, requiring that departments and agencies negotiate better union contracts and limiting the amount of time certain federal workers can spend on union business.

    Labor unions immediately criticized the moves.”

    _______________
    The executive orders signed by Trump call for:

    1.) Negotiating smarter contracts with federal employee unions. Agencies are also encouraged to wrap up labor negotiations in less than a year to limit the cost of “drawn-out” bargaining.

    2.) Renegotiating contracts to limit to 25 percent the amount of time federal employees who are authorized to work on behalf of a labor union can spend on union business during work hours. The order cuts back on lobbying or pursuing grievances against an agency on taxpayer-funded union time.

    3.) Agencies will also be able to collect rent from employees who use federal office space for union business. The administration says these and other changes will save taxpayers at least $100 million annually.

    4.) Streamlining the length of time it takes to terminate a federal worker for poor performance or misconduct. Administration officials said the process currently takes between six months and a year, and can last longer if the dismissal is appealed.

    ______________

    Full Article At: “https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/us-trump-federal-workers/2018/05/25/id/862548/”

    1. I am about beyond my daily reading abilities but wondering:

      How will this impact the use of temp workers when usual VA staff and desk people call in for their own reasons to create a intentional severe shortage in the hospitals? To me it was common tactics by activist or unions to create chaos and to make some points. Contract time, flare-ups, special interest groups, SJWs acting up seemed to be prime time for this to go on. Then VA having to call in replacements that I’ve witnessed openly stated they love that stuff and needed the money and wish the staff/unions would do it more often… to create shortages. Okay, say what? With those smiling faces seemingly forgetting we vets were out front waiting on some competence and info.

      Before the grand changes at the VA I could make more than one clinic visit per long drive to make it easy on me. That changed to “no more than one clinic visit per day now.” So that meant added trips per week or many more per month. My last visit with 3 clinics and blood draw was all staffed by ignorant temps who didn’t know how to do anything including logging in to get my travel pay straightened out among other issues that should have been easily found and dealt with. Those shortages in so many clinics in one or two days or more to me not mere coincidence. No way. Would all those pukes, union activist and SJW activist get fired? Doubtful.

      Doctors, surgeons not showing up or hours late is another issue.

      1. I know what you mean with the way that the VA employees tried to blow up the Veterans Choice program by shelving paper work to delay and resit the implementation of the choice program and any other changes that might have help the VA truly serve Veterans.

        You can bet that the VA AFGE contingent will be slowing any progress down again.

        But I think that this time the AFGE has been Trumped and a lot of the happy horseshit will cost some VA AFGE employees to loss their jobs. All while more and more Veterans will be seeking outside Health Care. I don’t mean care from one of the new Max Headroom clinics either. I mean real health care from real doctors.

    2. White House Fact Sheet

      President Donald J. Trump Is Reforming the Civil Service to Work for the American People
      Budget & Spending
      Issued on: May 25, 2018

      PUTTING TAXPAYERS FIRST: President Trump signed an Executive Order requiring agencies to negotiate better union contracts in a more efficient and transparent manner.

      The order directs agencies to negotiate better contracts with Federal unions, holds down costs, promotes performance and accountability, and creates a Labor Relations Working Group.
      It will eliminate years of costly drawn-out bargaining by encouraging agencies to conclude labor negotiations in less than a year.

      Agencies pay for union negotiators’ salaries, so it hurts taxpayers when bargaining drags on for years. The salaries for union negotiators cost $16 million in 2016 alone.

      Americans will now be able to gauge for themselves whether they got a good deal. The order requires union contracts to be published in a public online database, promoting transparency.

      WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE: The President’s Executive Order reducing spending on taxpayer-funded union activities will ensure Federal employees prioritize work for the American people.

      The order directs agencies to work on renegotiating contracts to cut taxpayer-funded union time by an average of two-thirds, reducing union business interfering with agency operations.

      The Social Security Administration estimates it could complete 135,000 more retirement applications or 17,000 more disability determinations annually, if taxpayer funding for union activities were redirected to public service functions.

      Those Federal employees authorized to act on behalf of unions will be permitted to spend no more than 25 percent of their time on union business.

      Over 470 Veterans Affairs employees spend 100 percent of their duty hours working for a labor union instead of serving veterans. This includes 74 full-time nurses.

      The order cuts back on lobbying or pursuing a grievance against an agency on taxpayer-funded union time. Taxpayers should not pay for unions to sue or lobby the government.

      Agencies will charge rent to employees that use Federal office space for non-agency business and stop covering travel expenses for non-agency business.

      This order will save taxpayers at least $100 million a year, when fully implemented.

      STRENGTHENING THE MERIT SYSTEM: Through Executive Order, President Trump is making procedural changes to strengthen the merit system and streamline the removal of poor performers.

      The current system makes firing bad employees prohibitively difficult, undermining the Federal Government’s merit principles that call for removing poor performers.

      It takes 6 months to 1 year to remove a tenured Federal employee for poor performance, plus an average of 8 more months to resolve appeals. Tenured Federal employees are also 44 times less likely to get fired or laid off than private sector workers.

      Tenured Federal employees have stolen agency property, run personal businesses from work, and been arrested for using drugs during lunch breaks and not been fired.

      The order facilitates the efficient removal of bad employees and makes it hard for those employees to mask adverse employment information when seeking re-employment at another agency, while upholding Federal merit principles.

      Agencies will be required to report information on disciplinary actions and management of poor performers to the Office of Personnel Management for publication.

      Fact Sheet At: “https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-reforming-civil-service-work-american-people/”

      1. All sounds good.

        Thanks for that find and post Seymore. Interesting. The more interesting point would be how those things are going to fly in corrupt Indiana or my town that bows and worships communist, to colleges, Dem/neocon party here. The political forces and regimes of civil service, FOP, city or town workers, etc. Three lefty colleges here and one major “Eugene V. Debbs Society” following and student unions. Plus, one plank in their party’s platforms/promises to crush any “Right to Work” laws that would open union shops to non-members, or not forcing people to join unions to gain employment. That includes any changes made to our “Union/Democrat Strong-holds” like my town that having any negative changes to their agendas will never happen. I am an example of what happens when one steps on union’s or corrupt professionals toes or bruises an inflated ego or scorns a local Marx-feminist since we men are to stay totally silent and bow to it all.

        Still either way for the negative or positive due to censoring and total lacking of local transparency, no real media, I doubt if myself or others will hear a word about it and surely would not be in print media for sure.

        Oh. For those who think I am a game player or puss, blowing smoke or kidding around. White House, DHS, Indiana corrupt officials top to bottom, SJWs, Antifa, MoveOn types, local corrupt trash et al, media and VSOs in hiding and ignoring. Ha ha. I just love threats and death threats especially. While cops to the phone company and others claim they can do nothing about? Eat this…terrorist, fascist, communist, scum-bags, networks of evil all, Satan worshipers, or whomever. No health care for me or representation? I am at the end of my rope and don’t give a shit any longer. Bite me & repent! Are we in America and have rights or not?
        “https://www.facebook.com/tell.tryon”

        Dang it forgot the quotes.

  2. On now. 7:32 Jones…
    “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtUq2oyml6A&feature=em-uploademail”

  3. “https://www.stripes.com/pbs-to-air-new-documentary-about-veteran-experience-on-memorial-day-1.529194?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines”

    Their version:
    “https://www.stripes.com/va-used-as-blueprint-for-trump-effort-to-weaken-civil-service-protections-1.529301?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines”

  4. Cool click bait again please tell us Diabled Veterans who are VA employees fighting for our Soldiers and Veterans rights while being abused can get help with this!!

    1. Personally Waffles,

      I highly recommend the 12 gauge Colonoscopy with a double odd buck discharge to remove polyps. It will also help with the BS flowing from your finger tips.

    2. Click bait? Whiskey?

      Well hmmm. I never had any VA staff or employee stand up/”fight” for me except to say ‘I’ll see what I can do.” Nada. You know how to read about what some are going through out here??? Click bait?!

      So. Do what some of the rest of us out here have to do. Deal with it, suffer, suck it up, get accustomed to having no rights or support at all. Suffer all the retaliation, threats and attacks until it’s like having a cup of morning Joe and a pee. Doesn’t mean nothing at all. Or go public like I have and see how much we veterans or those living in corruption-land live with day in, day out, 365/24/7. Support may vary according to global village, your connections, or, and corruption levels. Me. I am no cute little hard belly or female in distress so no white knight or Calvary will help me. Seen a lot of that going on but not for me. Oh, and I am one of those evil white baby boomers too that Oprah/Marx-feminist says should just die off. VSOs and the whole sheebang has proven that fact over the years to the present… sheep are too fearful, comfy in their corners, totally dis-concerned.

      Click bait you tell us. Got any plans? I’ve tried it all how about you. Or are you one of them thar ‘newbies’ at dealing with vast corruption or getting a burn or boo boo? How did you, are you, “fighting” for us? Shit tell me all about it I am all ears. Well foggy bad eyes. Roger?

  5. “https://medicalkidnap.com/2018/05/24/trump-administration-continues-practice-of-blocking-attempts-to-investigate-elder-abuse-adult-medical-kidnapping/”

    Ben. Of course anything meant to be used for the good has it’s flip-side too and will be abused or used maliciously against well intended good folks. Never fails. There are more than enough examples out there to prove it too. Unions started out to do good and protect workers, like old time medical practices to cure and lessen suffering…today one of the worse enemies, oppressors and traitors this country has. But people have to eat and survive in this world of shit… don’t they? One person of good intention can quit, a thousand more willing to see vets die and suffer… for a job or a big time gubbermint position for bragging rights. And just like recent health care events with civilian care they…can smile and be happy all the while. Never losing a nights sleep over what they allow or do. Wow how impressive. (sic)

    The final products of advanced civilization is corruption and death, period. My firm belief for years has been if humans touch it, it is ruined, corrupted or will be. I am not using the VA predictions, algorithms or crystal balls to think it either. No reasoning to be too optimistic living in reality, not the matrix.

    The “good” MDs I encountered never stayed long after VA training then put to work. One visit with ‘a good one’ told me he could not treat me the VA way properly and told me I was not going to like what was to come. Before I started having more serious issues with the VA or local CBOC cliques. He told me that he didn’t understand how so many people stayed at the VA as patients. Then told me ‘between him, me and fence post’ to get the hell out of the VA and find a good local MD and geriatric clinic which isn’t to be found locally. Something happened to him that morning that had him shaken, visably upset, and pissed enough to trust me a total stranger telling me what he did. But he was gone by the next appointment (2 weeks). Then the revolving door of PCPs continued until the last draw being one retired from a federal prison…I’d had enough with it all. Then left the CBOC for the real circus and attacks to increase, retribution. Thanks Humana and admin I could not get in to see either.

    I had seemingly ‘good’ MDs do total flip-flops with a couple mentioning the worm has turned – “things are changing at the VA,” just after a VA staff meeting and then seeing me. Once good turned evil assholes totally different from how they presented themselves previously with numerous visits. Like day to night.

    Personally if a joint, shop, union, crew, contractors was doing wrong I quit or was fired later on for standing up to some of their ways or expectations with no help from any union. Two of the worse being Allied Molders and United Steel Workers. I turned down local labor or building trade union possibilities. All due to corruption, politics and cover-ups. I quit a lot of jobs over the years and never worked in another union shop after having my fill of their games, politics. If any of them vexed my spirit or personal constitution I couldn’t and would not hang with them. No way could I ever work at the VA. I’d go back to stealing (or asking)(Uriah Heap) left overs to eat at the local parks and sleeping in 10′ by 10′ Good Will donation drop boxes out at the time. But I AM the crazy one for not being a team player, suck-up, brown noser or non-conformist.

    As for Trumpster he has shown from the get-go he is full of poop and lies. A trickster with the same around him all his life. A few, a few positive things he may have done so far, or the claims, doesn’t mean much to me compared to all his jaw-jacking and promises made during his campaign. He is no different than any politician out there IMNSHO. As illegals and phony refugees flood into the state and DACA American haters can now work at the VA having first picks in employment with various aids to help them along. Not for us.

    People in Indiana and locally have learned their lessons well since youth.. “Don’t rock the boat,” follow the herd in corruption regardless of what it is or who it harms. “Fit in.” Heard this stuff all my life. “You can’t fight city hall or the unions.” A total culture of corruption top to bottom. No real whistle blowers I’ve heard of here locally since many years ago. Across political parties Demoncrats being far far worse. Step out of line here or have a simple political disagreement can ruin a business, little chance of city/county employment, no chance for political positions, create inspection issues, get one fired, made unemployable, piss off so-called town leaders/Chambers of Commerce, Freemasons who are supposed to be the cream of the crop, plus many other groups, colleges, country clubbers, churches, all media staff and workers, etc. Also why I go through what I must with zero support and people afraid to even be around me or known to be a friend or acquaintence. If they went to a meeting with me they’d sit across the room. Funny stuff to me. Very telling, exposing much. Ethics or integrity? And I ain’t no saint.

    That was always my big issue with unions. They’d protect the lazy butt-wipes, the nepotism thing, the corrupt, dirty politics, the ones doing more for the company and taking bribes or getting special perks for them and their family like permanent jobs/union positions/political positions. Or not doing enough for their members in safety and health issues to letting them die off or get harmed to appease some company head, to profit, for the Dem party (a VA favorite of unions AFGE, SEIU, AFL/CIO, FOP, locals) or Indiana’s most wealthy and connected. “Vote Democrat for better VA care?”

    With Indiana being the way it is along with all the hard core censoring and total lacking of real news if this law worked the public or vets would never hear of it. Kinda like dirty cops, angels of death in health care, dirty judges, we wouldn’t hear of it unless it became too great, gossipy or known of. Or affected someone in a connected clique or club. Deaths or killings aren’t all reported here unless you are involved personally somehow to know of such things. No real media here and less transparency when it comes to any negativity. Any real news or reports locally out of the VA about any issues? Highly doubtful. Everything is perfect and “A level above” here in la la Hoosier sheep land. Bah bah bleet. We are number #1. Barf-o-la. Sorry, had to rant, can’t move much.

  6. As a former VA employee whose employment was terminated after I reported discrimination, despite having cited whistleblower protection policy, my subjective experience taught me that the law reportedly drafted to hold higher level VA employees accountable isn’t being implemented as designed.

    Suppose there is a known defect with a particular make and model of an automobile, let’s say airbags for the sake of discussion. Multiple deaths result from the defect and public outcry warrants action. An oversight body holds the auto manufacturer accountable by drafting and enforcing a policy change. This open-ended policy requires the manufacturer to issue an immediate recall, remedy defective airbags, correct the issue with future makes and models, and inform the public of danger associated with the airbags. This action does not mandate a deadline for accomplishment and is to be financed by the manufacturer, not by the customer.

    Seems simple enough, right?

    Now suppose the auto manufacturer finds a way to remain in compliance with the policy while at the same time using a loophole in the requirement to its advantage. After all, remedying the defect could be quite expensive. Future vehicle modifications and public awareness of the issue are the easiest and least costly matters of resolve. Recalling and fixing airbags associated with vehicles already in circulation, however, could drastically impact profit margins. The company decides to issue a time sensitive recall when notifying the public of the defect. Vehicle owners have 30 days from the date of notification issuance to comply with the limited recall. Controlling the time variable, the company will potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars, because the manufacturer suspects that the average vehicle owner will either ignore the initial recall or remain unable to schedule an appointment due to miscellaneous variables (i.e., pre-planned vacations, employment scheduling conflicts, location from the nearest dealership, etc.).

    Technically the auto manufacturer remains in compliance with the remedying strategy.

    By altering the letter of the policy to a close-ended deadline approach, defying the spirit of the resolution, the manufacturer theoretically remains in compliance with the policy. A 30-day limitation versus the expected, though not specifically stated, open-ended recall is a workaround that serves as a means of remaining acquiescent to a mandate that could otherwise set earning potential back for the year, is exercised as a means to avoid future litigation, and projects the appearance of a company that cares about its customers. From the company’s perspective, this exploitation of a loophole best serves the interests of both the manufacturer and the public.

    This is precisely what the VA has accomplished by its implementation of a policy designed to target substandard employees—namely upper level management officials.

    Rather than holding leadership accountable for wrongdoing, lower level employees absorb the impact of policy action. This isn’t a new strategy by any stretch of the imagination. Consider the Abu Ghraib scandal for instance. When the public was made aware of prisoner maltreatment and policy measures were implemented to address the issue, who took the fall? Despite following orders from their command related to routine duties, two enlisted personnel were sentenced to incarceration. The Brigadier General in charge of the operation was only demoted to the rank of Colonel and allowed to eventually retire. No incarceration at all. Other high ranking military personnel, military contractors, and alphabet agency staff weren’t prosecuted. See a pattern here?

    How about when my VA direct supervisor openly discriminated against me and denied me reasonable accommodations during my employment? I am a disabled veteran who was trying to improve my quality of living by gaining and maintaining employment while at the same time trying to assist my fellow veterans by improving their quality of life. Did the VA Accountability Act result in supervisor’s employment having been impacted? No. My employment was terminated within a week of filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint (whistleblowing), my supervisor was simply moved to another section while retaining time in grade and service, and despite the years that have passed since the event I remain in a holding pattern for justice to be served. I suppose chapter 43 of Title 5 that Ben highlights is a loophole by which the spirit of the policy is diminished by a mere technicality.

    Despite what I’ve observed from some people who respond to posts about VA employees, more specifically AFGE members, not all of us were “swamp” dwellers. Some of us genuinely wanted to be the change we wished to see in the VA. (Side note: No verifiable source maintains that Mahatma Gandhi ever stated, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” That quote is the stuff of memes.) Yes, some—not all—VA employees actually wanted to help veterans. I find it shameful that systemic, overlapping, and intersecting layers of oppression, corruption, and loophole-exploiting behavior plagues the VA. A policy designed to remedy a faulty airbag is as good as useless when the organization tasked with implementing it cares very little about customer safety.

  7. Its a good law that was meant to be used to weed out the bad doctors and heads of departments. Now if this is being used to attack Veterans and the good employees who call attention to the disgusting things going on inside of a VA clinic or hospital…then what is needed is to go after the people misusing the law and nail their asses to the wall. You dont get rid of a good law just because someone is misusing it. That would be the equal to just because some people rob banks and get away with it then EVERYONE should be allowed to rob banks, that makes about as much sense. I personally know of a doctor who is no longer with the Indiana VA because of actions that were turned in by his own NURSE! And they fired him (the doctor) because of this law. So when used properly, it does work

  8. Why can’t we hold high level employees like the president (Obama) accountable. Like the brattish, a vote of no confidence and youre out

  9. This action ostensibly done to rid the VA of the shit in a more timely manner is like treating a patient with a years long bowel blockage by handing them some toilet paper and a tooth brush to fix it.

    Just one more wad of paper up America’s wazoo but VA touts the benefits of zero plaque build up…

    1. I’d personally go with a day the fire dept’s need to test the hydrants out and let it fly through hoses onto street…that’s the kind of power-bowel-cleansing the VA Meatgrinder’s posterior and interior requires. A complete enema.

  10. Oh please…

    That union agreement is more useless than toilet paper. In fighting my retaliatory firing, I had to fight arguements and case law showing that the agreement is not really enforceable, is merely a guide for how things go…and, my vs. the VA’s understanding/interpretation of each article I claimed was violated.

    The union has no teeth. They just take your money and make a lot of noise. If you’re a thug, meh, they make enough noise to keep you on payroll. If you are a decent employee and/or a whistleblower, be ready for the union to help the VA get rid of you and for the courts to take that union agreement and give it to you to wipe the poop shooting out of your behind after they bend you over and rip you a new one.

  11. Wouldn’t it be amazing if ALL the “rank and file employees” were to quit!
    Who’d be left to do anything to?
    The VA is already a “den of iniquity”! The ones running it have become greedy to a point, the taxpayers monies is all they want! When the $55 Billion is gone, watch them beg for more in the coming few months!

    1. It would be sweet to see them all quit. But it would be even better to see the conditions of employment at the VA be changed to require all VA AFGE members and their families be required to get a 12 gauge Colonoscopy with a double odd buck discharge to remove polyps.

      Not a single one of them is worth a dam anyway.

  12. Whether it’s the VA Accountability Act or brand spanking new VA Mission Act…these are petulant brat children, at best and these rats have been burrowing below the swamp for many nepotistic moons.

    “[The only accountability appears to be focused on silencing those willing to push back against wrongdoers.]”

    ^^ No matter what is supposedly “ALL FOR THE VETS”, the VA ALWAYS bastardizes it into a RAT BASTARD AFFAIR…that only benefits the…RAT BASTARDS!

    So…who *really* is shocked by this?

    If congress were to pass an “ACT” that required spankings to the bloody-ass degree for VA thugs and those paddles were contracted and hung in every VAMC office, the VA would use those paddles to beat dead Veterans out of rigor mortis in order to fit a second Veteran in that bag for a performance bonus….we are seriously FUCKED!

  13. Most importantly is that the lives of VA employees and their families are being harmed. Nevermind the hostile work environments. The problem has always been about corrupt management.

    1. Fuck the VA employees and their families. They work in and support a sham health care environment that has been killing Veterans and their families for many years now. So fuck the VA AFGE members and their families all to hell.

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