Judge rejects VA’s third attempt to cancel union contracts

The Veterans Affairs Department for the third time this year has been admonished for attempting to terminate its contract with the nation’s largest federal employee union.

The saga traces back to President Trumps March 2025 executive order that banned collective bargaining at the VA and many other federal agencies under the auspices of national security. The department first moved to terminate its contract with the American Federation of Government Employees last August, only for U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee in Rhode Island, to issue an injunction unwinding that decision in March.

In response to that decision, the VA issued a new termination notice to AFGE, which prompted an update to the injunction as well as the threat of contempt proceedings. A federal appeals court upheld most provisions of that order in May.

But last month, the VA told the union it would again seek to terminate the agreement on Aug. 8, the date that the contract was initially set to expire. The union again asked for the court to intervene, arguing that because the department requested that the contract be reopened for negotiations, management triggered a rollover clause that automatically extends the contract’s duration until a successor agreement can be reached.

The VA for its part accused the union of refusing to meet for negotiations within 30 days of its request, despite a litany of written correspondence seeking to hash out the scope and ground rules for negotiations.

In a three-page order published Friday, DuBose described VA’s latest effort to debride itself of AFGE’s collective bargaining agreement as “in direct contravention” of her prior orders.

“The defendants’ assertion that the plaintiffs failed to comply with the 30-day clock to begin negotiations and that this purported failure is a lawful basis on which to terminate the agreement, is not well-taken,” she wrote. “The exhibits each party provided in support of their positions on this motion are chock full of correspondence between the parties directly related to the defendants’ notice of intent to renegotiate the master CBA (rather than allow it to auto-renew as is on August 8).”

In a statement Friday, AFGE National VA Council President Mary Jean Burke applauded the judge’s ruling.

“Unions that represent federal employees have long been under attack,” she said. “Why? Because we are the roadblock preventing the privatization of the agencies we swore to protect. No matter how many times we are kicked while we are down, we get back up, brush off the dirt and get right back in the fight because we believe in the VA’s mission to serve our nation’s veterans. Today’s victory is proof that the law sides with AFGE/NVAC because we fight for what is right.”