Veterans’ Groups Briefed on 7422 Bill
April 23, 2008
Last week, representatives from NAGE and other unions representing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workers briefed a number of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) on H.R.4089 and S.2824, legislation that would restore a meaningful scope of bargaining to Title 38 VA health care providers. The American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America were all in attendance.
The briefing was held to inform the VSOs of the unions’ efforts to push for legislation that would restore collective bargaining rights for VA workers. The event gave the unions the opportunity to outline the necessity of eliminating the 7422 bargaining exceptions under Title 38 and to discuss the benefits this legislation would have on recruitment and retention of health care providers at the VA. The veterans’ groups were given the opportunity to raise any questions or concerns they had about the pending legislation.
“The VSOs do great work for the American veteran,” said NAGE Federal Legislative Director Randy Erwin. “It is important for labor to keep these groups in the loop when we are advocating legislation that impacts the VA. Ideally, we would like the VSOs to support the legislation we are pushing, but at a minimum we want to keep them informed. Going forward, we hope to gain the support of the VSOs for H.R.4089 and S.2824.”