A federal judge on March 13 ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to honor its collective bargaining agreement with a union while litigation over the agreement played out.
In 2023, NVAC and the department signed the three-year agreement, but on Aug. 6, 2025, Veteran Affairs Secretary Doug Collins terminated it.
“The President needs a responsive and accountable civil service to protect our national security,” the statement read.
Several federal unions have “declared war” on Trump’s agenda and one union said it was “fighting back” against the president. Unions within the VA filed “70 national and local grievances over President Trump’s policies since the inauguration—an average of over one a day,” according to the White House.
“Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,” said Collins. “We’re 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.”
DuBose said in her order that NVAC and AFGE Local 2305, which represents about 450 employees at Veterans Affairs facilities in Rhode Island, had asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the department and Collins from continuing to implement the termination of the agreement.
In her new order, DuBose granted a preliminary injunction and directed the federal government to “reinstate the Master [collective bargaining agreement]—as well as any amendments, local supplemental agreements, and memoranda of understanding that were in place subsidiary to the [agreement]—for the remainder of the agreed-upon term provided in the [agreement].”
DuBose said she could not ignore the “ample” evidence showing that the agreement termination was driven by “retaliation” for union advocacy for their members.
The government has presented “little counterevidence to indicate the termination was not retaliatorily motivated and/or would have occurred in the absence of the Plaintiffs’ grievances, litigation conduct, and advocacy.”
The government had a “laser focus” on “how much better the VA could operate without the unions,” the judge added.
AFGE National President Everett Kelley welcomed the new order.
“The VA’s actions didn’t just violate the law. Those same actions put veterans’ care at risk by undermining the very people dedicated to serving them.”
“Today’s ruling holds this administration accountable and makes clear: no one can retaliate against workers for standing up for their rights,” Kelley said.
The Epoch Times reached out for comment to the Department of Veterans Affairs. No reply was received by publication time.