Veterans Administration Employees Protest Workplace Safety Issues

TAMPA, FL — On Wednesday, union members from the American Federation of Government Employees Local 547 and National Nurses United protested the Veterans Administration's decision to eliminate hazard pay for VA staff and continuing shortages of personal protective equipment.

The protest took place in front of the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.

Union members are also calling for the passage of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act and an end to systemic racism and union busting at Veterans Administration facilities across the country.

Introduced in Congress by U.S. Rep. Nita M. Lowey of New York in May, the HEROES Act calls expands paid sick days and medical leave, provides hazard pay to essential workers, expands the Paycheck Protection Program, providing loans and grants to small businesses and nonprofits, eliminates cost-sharing for coronavirus treatments, extends the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures and requires employers to implement infectious disease control plans.

The Tampa rally was one of several coordinated actions outside of VA facilities throughout the U.S., including in Chicago, Dayton, Augusta and Manhattan. Earlier protests took place in Las Vegas; Marion, Indiana; Philadelphia; Dayton, Ohio; Cincinnati; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Houston.

On April 9, the AFGE National VA Council, which represents more than 265,000 VA employees, released a national petition calling on the Department of Veteran Affairs to provide PPE, telework options, weather and safety leave, hazard pay, testing and better communication, training and planning.

Related story: HCA Nurses Protest Lack Of Coronavirus Protection, Layoffs