Department of Veterans Affairs
AFGE National Veterans Affairs Council Elects Officers at 19th
Triennial Training Convention in Hawaii
AFGE Honors Vietnam-Era Veterans in 25th Anniversary Parade
On Saturday, November 10, AFGE paid tribute to the sacrifice
of servicemen and women of the Vietnam War era by
participating in the Vietnam Veterans of America’s parade
commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the dedication of the
Vietnam Memorial Wall. [more]
11-14-2007
The Worker - December 2007
The Worker - October 2007
The Worker - September 2007
The Worker - August 2007
AFGE Responds to VA Secretary Nicholson’s Resignation
The Worker - June 2007
Statement from AFGE Local 3028, AFL-CIO President Kevin D.
McGee on VA Press Secretary Matt Burns statement on
Performance Awards to Some Sr. Career Civil Servants
AFGE Local 3028 recognizes that the VA does not function
solely on the backs of Sr. Career Civil Servants [more]
5-9-2007
AFGE News For VA Employees March/April 2007
AFGE Successfully Wards Off Repeal of Ban on Outsourcing [more]
3-21-2007
January '07 Issue of 'The Worker'
AFGE News for VA Employees
News about training debacle on Capitol Hill, mergers with
university hospitals, master agreement renegotiations and
more. [more]
11-29-2006
Contracting Out (BPR E-Mail)
Physician's Pay and Leave Changes in 2006
Implementation of Physicians’ Pay Provisions in P.L. 108-445
Budget Shortfalls and Outsourcing Remain Serious Threats to VA
Employees and Veterans
Issue Papers (Department of Veterans Affairs [more]
9-29-2006
How VA Hospitals Became The Best [Time Magazine]
No longer a nation's shame, veteran care is acing competitors
[more]
9-29-2006
Veterans Affairs Nurses, AFGE Join Group to Advocate for
Increased Staffing and Improved Patient Care
PR Newswire March 27, 2006 [more]
9-29-2006
President's Briefing: NVAC Action Alert
[Members Only] [more]
9-29-2006
VA Employees Newsletter
Adobe PDF Document of the VA Employees newsletter [more]
8-25-2006
Talking Points on Issues Facing the Veterans Affairs
Department
Talking points on Veterans Affairs issues including Master
Agreement, Budget, Outsourcing, Staffing and training
shortages. [more]
4-11-2006
AFGE Responds to President’s Effort to Cut Veterans Health
Care Funding
National President John Gage speaks about administration's
proposed cuts to Department of Veterans Affairs health care
budget. [more]
3-1-2006
AFGE Members Help Make Dreams Come True on Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition!
AFGE members of the Salem, Va. Veterans Affairs Medical Center
assist deserving family on National TV [more]
2-13-2006
Cell Phones for Soldiers Still Going Strong!
National expansion by AFGE on campaign to aid soldiers in
calling home. [more]
11-9-2005
Act Now: Stop Cuts in Your Pay Raise & Veterans Health Care
On Wednesday November 2, Congress will begin voting on a $35
billion package of budget cuts that would reduce the 2006 pay
raise for federal employees already approved by both the House
and Senate. The cut in your pay raise would be part of the $35
billion in budget cuts now being pushed by some members of
Congress. Funding for veterans’ health care and dozens of
other programs that help middle and low income people are also
on the chopping block. Only lawmakers with a misplaced sense
of decency would back these cuts in the name of helping the
victims of hurricane Katrina while simultaneously pushing for
$70 billion in tax giveaways for big corporations and the
rich. [more]
10-31-2005
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton Helps AFGE Celebrate National Cell
Phones for Soldiers Collection Day
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton recently joined AFGE and veterans
at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center in celebrating
AFGE’s National Cell Phones for Soldiers (CPFS) Collection
Day. Through CPFS, participants can donate used cell phones,
with attached batteries, at designated drop-off sites. The
phones will then be recycled for cash and used to purchase
prepaid calling cards for soldiers who cannot afford to make
costly long distance phone calls to the United States. [more]
10-18-2005
Big Boost in the Budget for Veterans' Medical Care
The Senate on Thursday approved a big boost in the budget for
veterans' medical care. The measure, approved by a 98-0 vote,
would increase spending by 21 percent, or about $4 billion, to
$23.3 billion, for the budget year that begins Oct. 1. More
veterans are seeking care and the cost per patient is on the
rise, too. [more]
9-23-2005
Cell Phones for Soldiers
As you know, AFGE recently launched its own version of the
national Cell Phones for Soldiers program. Cell Phones for
Soldiers (CPFS) was started by thirteen-year-old Brittany
Bergquist and her twelve-year-old brother Robbie of Norwell,
Mass., in April 2004. After hearing a news report about a
local soldier who ran up a massive phone bill calling home
from Iraq, they decided they wanted to do something to help. [more]
8-10-2005
Keep VA money for veterans care
It's no secret that health care for veterans is underfunded in
the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Despite Bush
administration denials, its constantly escalating numbers for
veterans' health-care funding speaks otherwise. Earlier this
summer, we learned that the VA developed its fiscal 2005
health care budget without factoring in the new vets coming
home from Iraq and Afghanistan. [more]
7-25-2005
Gazette opinion: Fully fund Veterans Affairs care before
August recess
The Bush administration and Congress have fallen shamefully
short in funding health care for U.S. veterans. The shortfall
isn't new, but it's worsening. [more]
7-25-2005
Mandatory Funding Amendment to be Offered
On Wednesday, July 27, 2005, Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
and Tim Johnson (D-SD) will offer an amendment to the DoD
Authorization Bill (S. 1042) to provide mandatory funding for
veterans health care. [more]
7-25-2005
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Considers Legislation That
Would Divert Scarce Funds From Veterans' Health Care Budget
(Washington)—The American Federation of Government Employees
(AFGE) is applauding lawmakers and veterans' service
organizations, including the Disabled American Veterans (DAV),
Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and AMVETS, in their
efforts to strip language from a Senate bill that would divert
funds for veterans' medical care into the hands of private
management consultants for the conduct of expensive
cost-comparison studies that set the stage for the outsourcing
of federal jobs. [more]
7-25-2005
AFGE Wins Reinstatement for VA Employees
Arbitrator Finds Employees Were Dismissed Without Cause. [more]
1-11-2006
Act Now To Protect Veterans Health Care!
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee will vote on Thursday,
July 28, on a proposal that will put 36,000 VA jobs at risk by
diverting money from veterans' health care to pay for
contracting out studies. The proposal will pad the pockets of
contracting out consultants at the expense of American's
veterans who aren't getting the health care they were promised
because the money isn't there to deliver it. And to add insult
to injury, good jobs will be destroyed – jobs that more often
than not are held by veterans. It's an outrageous proposal
that must be stopped! [more]
7-21-2005
AFGE Expresses Outrage Over VA Admission of $2.6 Billion
Shortfall
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is
outraged by the recent admission by the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) of a $2.6 billion shortfall in its health care
budget. In its advocacy on behalf of veterans and the VA
workers who care for them, AFGE has worked for years to shed
light on the fact that health care for veterans is severely
under-funded, causing hardship to our veterans, who were
promised quality healthcare after serving their time in the
military. [more]
6-30-2005
Claiming Change of Heart, Administration Continues to
Shortchange Veterans
Despite his own admission of a $1 billion budget shortfall for
Veterans' health care this year, and an anticipated shortfall
of $2.6 billion for 2006, Jim Nicholson, secretary of Veterans
Affairs (VA), submitted a supplemental budget request to
Congress today for a fraction of that amount. [more]
6-30-2005
36,000 VA Jobs At Risk
The Administration is making a major push to significantly
increase contracting out at the VA. Senators on the
Appropriations and Veterans Affairs Committees are under
extreme pressure to pass legislation in the next few weeks
that will divert money from veterans' health to fund
contracting out studies. If that happens, at least 36,000 VA
jobs would immediately be at risk - particularly sanitation,
grounds maintenance, pharmacy, radiology, medical records,
laboratory, food service, and laundry jobs. Equally important,
the VA is already struggling to meet the medical needs of
veterans. This is not the time to line the pockets of
contracting out consultants with precious health care dollars.
[more]
6-24-2005
Registered Nurses speak out against Baccalaureate
degree requirement for advancement
Many Registered Nurses (RN) are frustrated by Veterans
Affairs’ (VA) policy that RNs cannot be promoted above a
certain grade level unless they have a Baccalaureate degree,
even if the RN meets all other qualification standards -
Nurses with either a Baccalaureate or an Associate degree in
Nursing must pass the same standardized test in order to be
registered and licensed.
In 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
published an article which concluded that there was a
relationship between a RN with a Baccalaureate and patient
outcomes. Many of AFGE RNs disagreed with the methodology of
this article and sent letters to the editor. The attached
letter was published in JAMA on March 2004.
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