House Panel Advances Legislation to Expand VA Medical Employee Bargaining Rights

The House Veterans Affairs Committee on Tuesday voted 17-11 to advance legislation that would expand the collective bargaining rights of medical professionals at the Veterans Affairs Department, allowing them to negotiate over issues related to patient care and clinical competencies.

Physicians, dentists, registered nurses and physician assistants at the VA are hired under Title 38 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits collective bargaining over care and competency issues, as determined by the department’s secretary. During the Trump administration, that exception to collective bargaining was stretched far wider than previous eras, eventually including issues such as shift scheduling and banning Title 38 union officials from accessing official time altogether.

The VA Employee Fairness Act (H.R. 1948), introduced by Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., strips the department of its ban on negotiating over issues of patient care and competency for Title 38 employees, effectively giving them full Title 5 collective bargaining rights. Takano said the measure would grant medical professionals the same rights already enjoyed by many other VA employees, including licensed practical nurses.

“Title 38 health care professionals are asking for the same rights, not more, to negotiate over routine workplace issues such as scheduling, assignments, and nurse locality pay that are exercised every day by other VA clinicians and federal employees everywhere,” Takano said. “Guaranteeing health care providers the same bargaining rights as other providers will help improve workplace conditions and ultimately benefit our nation’s veterans.”

But Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., ranking member of the committee, said that while he understands VA unions’ plight in recent years, he does not believe the solution is to strip out the ban on bargaining over patient care issues entirely. He noted that the Biden administration has yet to endorse the bill, instead citing “many complex issues under review.”

“I understand the unions’ position that the secretary has involved this provision to deal with questions like scheduling,” he said. “However, this change would allow a third-party arbitrator to second guess the secretary’s decision on whether to discipline a doctor, nurse or dentist if he finds their care or clinical competency to be substandard. Those kinds of questions should be reviewed by medical professionals, and we should not leave discipline of medical professionals to unaccountable third parties.”

Bost also suggested the bill could give medical professionals at VA the right to bargain over pay. Although the bill removes language within Title 38 barring employees from negotiating over “the establishment, determination or adjustment of employee compensation,” it would allow them to file grievances over pay disputes in the same way that other Title 5 employees do.

National Federation of Federal Employees National President Randy Erwin applauded the committee’s vote to move forward with the legislation.

“Over the past four years, VA medical professionals and staff endured incredibly rough and heartbreaking conditions as they struggled to provide care for our nation’s veterans,” Erwin said in a statement. “The last administration threatened, demoted, terminated and attempted to destroy the reputations of doctors, nurses and other professionals when they spoke up about patient care and working conditions . . . By giving VA caregivers say over their ability to treat their patients effectively and efficiently, our veterans win.”

The bill now goes to the floor for consideration by the full House.