Alexandria, VA – About 30 people gathered outside the Alexandria Sheriff’s office on Tuesday morning, October 21, to protest the ongoing collaboration between Alexandria Sheriff Sean Casey and ICE agents.

Led by ICE out of Alexandria and supported by the DC Against the Trump Agenda Coalition (DCATA), organizers planned to deliver a letter to the sheriff and formally demand they end local cooperation with ICE. Signs passed out at the event had slogans that read “Sheriff Casey: Stop doing ICE’s dirty work!” and “Alexandria demands: Stop Sheriff Casey’s voluntary collaboration with ICE!”

The protest began with chants of “Say it once and say it twice, Sheriff Casey works with ICE!” as community members marched on the facility while local press circled for footage.

Arriving at the building, organizers then took to the streets decrying the local law enforcement for their role in deportations, not just in Alexandria but in DC and across the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia). This was followed by chants of “Up up with liberation, down down with deportations!” and “Money for health and education! Not for ICE and deportations!”

The organizers who went to deliver the letter were held at the door of the public police facility and told by officers that they could not enter. When the organizers reported back to the crowd, this was met with loud boos and cries of “shame!” before morphing into more chanting. The speakers declared their intention to continue attempting to deliver the letter, which elicited large cheers.

This protest comes on the heels of DC Mayor Bowser’s continued collaboration with ICE, as over 20 ICE arrests have been made in DC within the past two weeks. Organizers from Families not Feds and DCATA mobilized in an action to disrupt a press conference held by Bowser last Thursday. Across the DMV, protests against ICE agents are gaining momentum, as more organizers and community members continue to speak up and fight back.

#AlexandriaVA #VA #ImmigrantRights #DCATA

Tampa, FL – Alrededor de 20 trabajadores del Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos (VA, por sus siglas en inglés) y simpatizantes se manifestaron frente a la clínica del VA en Bruce B Downs Boulevard en Tampa temprano en la mañana del 4 de agosto. La manifestación fue organizada por la Federación Americana de Empleados Gubernamentales (AFGE) Local 547 y forma parte de una campaña nacional más amplia en contra de los continuos ataques a los trabajadores federales por parte de la administración Trump.

En febrero, después de la toma de posesión de Trump, el VA anunció que eliminaría 80,000 puestos de trabajo, equivalentes al 20% de la fuerza laboral del VA, como parte de los recortes impulsados por DOGE. Esto comenzó con el despido de los 2,400 empleados en periodo de prueba.

En marzo, Trump emitió una orden ejecutiva que eliminó los derechos de negociación colectiva para muchos trabajadores federales, incluidos los del VA, en lo que ha sido considerado el mayor ataque contra el movimiento obrero en décadas.

Aunque estas medidas han sido revertidas temporalmente por el sistema judicial, forman parte de un ataque continuo contra los trabajadores federales, y los trabajadores siguen en la lucha.

Los trabajadores estaban muy motivados en el piquete, coreando consignas como: “Cuando atacan al VA, ¿qué hacemos? ¡Defendernos y luchamos!” y solicitando apoyo de los vehículos que pasaban. Su ánimo se mantuvo alto gracias al récord de trabajadores que se han unido a la AFGE en respuesta a los ataques del gobierno de Trump.

#TampaFL #Labor #Trump #VA #AFGE

Tampa, FL – About 20 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) workers and supporters rallied at the VA clinic on Bruce B Downs Boulevard in Tampa early in the morning of August 4. The rally was put on by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 547 and is part of a larger nationwide campaign opposing ongoing attacks on federal workers by the Trump administration.

In February, after Trump was inaugurated, the VA announced it would be cutting 80,000 jobs, or 20% of the total VA workforce, as part of the DOGE-led cuts on services. This started with the firing of all 2400 probationary employees.

In March, Trump delivered an executive order stripping collective bargaining rights from many federal workers, including workers at the VA, in what has been called the greatest attack on the labor movement in decades.

While these have been reversed by the court system for now, they are part of an ongoing attack on federal workers, and workers are continuing the fight.

Workers were highly motivated at the picket, chanting “When the VA is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and soliciting support from passing vehicles. Their spirits were buoyed by record numbers of workers joining the AFGE in light of the attacks from the Trump administration.

#TampaFL #FL #Labor #VA #AFGE #Trump #Feature

Milwaukee, WI – A March 7 protest outside the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee brought out over 300 VA employees and supporters to protest attacks on the VA workforce by billionaires Trump and Musk. It was the largest protest at the site in memory.

Ten probationary employees at the Milwaukee VA have been fired without cause since Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” began its scorched earth campaign against unionized federal workers. Government memos suggest that over 80,000 VA employees could lose their jobs if Trump and Musk’s plans are not stopped.

“We are not the billionaires. We’re the people who’ve had to earn a paycheck our whole life,” said Pam Fendt, president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, “we know that the end goal of the administration is to cut and then privatize for their own self-enrichment. And we know that privatization doesn’t lead to lower costs or better service.”

“None of us are disposable, the VA’s mission could not be achieved without each and every one of us,” said Monica Luecking-David, a nurse at the Milwaukee VA and chapter president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5000. “We will lose our VA to the private sector, and your veterans’ healthcare will be administered by insurance companies,” warned Luecking-David, who helped organize the rally.

The bi-partisan MISSION Act signed into law by Trump in 2018 paved the way for the privatization of VA healthcare. The law created a framework to outsource veteran’s healthcare to private companies under certain conditions, such as for long wait times for appointments. If not stopped, the huge staffing cuts sought by Trump and Musk would result in reduction in services and long wait times, forcing veterans to seek healthcare from private providers. The largest healthcare companies in the U.S lobbied vigorously in support of the MISSION Act because they stand to profit from lucrative government contracts to replace VA services.

Tens of thousands of government workers are already out of a job, and many more will be harmed if Trump’s schemes aren’t stopped. It is vital that all organized labor rally in the support of the federal workers’ unions.

“We all need to come together to fight this reduction in force, the same way we do with every other fight, with tireless dedication to a righteous cause,” nurse Monica Luecking-David said.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #Labor #Veterans #VA #FederalWorkers #Feature

Chicago, IL – Health care workers and veterans have been protesting at VA Hospitals across the country as President Donald Trump and his multibillionaire sidekick Elon Musk attempt to gut healthcare for veterans. Union members who work at VA Hospitals have been in the forefront of the fight to save veteran benefits.

VA hospitals were amongst the hardest hit by the firing of tens of thousands of federal workers. “We love our veterans,” Aimee Potter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) told a February 26 rally outside the Jesse Brown VA Hospital in Chicago. “We are here to support them.”

U.S. military veterans have historically been given preference in hiring at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Despite this, Trump has already fired an estimated 6000 veterans in his first weeks in office. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced plans to cut 80,000 more jobs. Many of these jobs are held by veterans.

Pat Kearns is a registered nurse at the Iowa City VA and president of AFGE Local 2547. Appearing on the Fight Back! Radio podcast, Kearns noted, “Our patients are pretty fiercely loyal to us. Everybody at least has to give lip service, even in the Republican Party, to the fact that veterans deserve healthcare. And so I think it's death by a thousand cuts rather than one firing of half the employees in one fell swoop. The VA's been underfunded for a number of years. You don't have to kick it very hard to tip it.”

Workers and unions are not taking this lying down. Unions, including AFGE, have taken the Trump administration to court to block these illegal terminations. So far, many of the unions’ efforts have been successful.

Encouraged by the AFL-CIO, workers, including veterans, have been holding hearings to tell their stories. The Chicago Federation of Labor and the Jobs with Justice Workers Rights Board held such a hearing in Chicago, March 10, where VA social worker Denise Mercherson testified, ”The VA is the biggest employer of social workers in the country. We have 9.1 million veterans in the VA system. Are you aware of the number of homeless veterans? But we have closed the gap due not only to the social workers, but the VA healthcare system.”

The DOGE attack on the federal work force puts veterans, who make up 30% of the federal workforce serving in every department, directly in the crosshairs. But it is more than an attack on veterans, it is an attack on the working class.

Business and government’s all-out attack on unions over the last 50 years has reduced union membership in the private sector to 6.7% of the workforce. This is compared to a total union membership of 35% of the workforce in 1954. Currently half of all union members are in the public sector. Rather than rebuild worker power, Trump seeks to destroy it through attacks on the public sector workers and unions.

This was evident to Aimee Potter at the rally as she told the crowd, “We need solidarity and collective action. Democracy as we once knew it is no longer!”

Workers across the country will be joining immigrants and others under attack to march for justice on May Day, International Workers Day.

Richard Berg is the host of the Fight Back! Radio podcast. The current episode features President Pat Kearns of AFGE Local 2547

#ChicagoIL #IL #Labor #FederalWorkers #AFGE #Trump #Layoffs #Veterans #VA