Protestors rally against cuts to workforce at Northport VA Medical Center

Bob Dennis, an East Northport resident and president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 1843, has been working at the Northport VA Medical Center for 17 years, most recently as an equipment engineering operator on the grounds and operations crew. Last week he was one of nearly 75 participants at a rally to protest possible cuts at the Northport VA, one of a series of similar protests across the nation in support of veterans health care workers since the Trump administration has proposed – and executed –  widespread cuts on the federal workforce.

“Since Trump’s inauguration, federal workers have been disrespected, demeaned, and degraded by Elon Musk and the Trump Administration. AFGE members, civil servants, lawmakers and community supporters across the country are raising awareness about the disastrous attacks and how they are impacting federal employees and the services they provide,” read a media advisory from the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), sent out in the days leading up to the rally.

The AFGE is the largest federal worker union, with over 300,000 members. Affiliated with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) since its founding, AFGE collectively bargains for federal employees and lobbies against any privatization efforts.

AFGE Local 1843 represents 1,700 Northport VA workers, most on site, with some stationed at the five Community-Based Outreach Clinics (CBOC) across Long Island. Members from multiple unions, including other local AFGEs, the AFL-CIO, United Autoworkers and the National Federation of Teachers Unions, took part in last Friday’s rally, holding signs that read:

Stop the war on America’s workforce.
Congress: Hold the line. Don’t surrender.
Proud veteran. Dedicated government worker.
Stop waste and fraud – fire Musk.
Honk if you want your VA back.
This ain’t governing, it’s chaos. 

Emotions at medical centers across the country have been high since the Trump administration’s move to end hundreds of VA contracts earlier in the month, cuts that were put on pause following concerns about the impact they would have on critical health services amidst ongoing layoffs. 

The cuts are part of a government-wide Trump Administration effort to make agencies more efficient, effective and responsive to the American people, read a February article on the government’s VA.gov webpage after the dismissal of more than 1,000 employees nationwide; more cuts have been made since.

“This was a tough decision, but ultimately it’s the right call to better support the Veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors the department exists to serve,” said United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins in the article. “To be perfectly clear: these moves will not negatively impact VA health care, benefits or beneficiaries. In the coming weeks and months, VA will be announcing plans to put these resources to work helping Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.”

Collins currently manages a $350 billion-plus budget and oversees nearly 200 medical centers and hospitals nationwide. The department is considering a reorganization that could include cutting 80,000 jobs, according to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press in the beginning of March, with an objective to return to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000 nationally. It also calls for agency officials to work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency in an agency-wide reorganization championed by Musk, who the White House has called a senior adviser to the president.

While major cuts have yet to hit the Northport VA workforce, Dennis said employees there are in a constant state of trepidation, uncertain if they will have a job tomorrow. “When you walk around the campus, you can see the stress on people. It’s wearing on everybody,” he said.

“When Doug Collins came on, he said he was going to help out the veterans. I can’t see how you’re helping the veterans by taking away services,” Dennis added, noting that any reductions in staff will start to affect the care of the patients at the VA. “They’re talking about reduction in forces, and right now we’re already struggling for care,” he said. Nursing units are especially short-staffed, with many employees working double shifts just to maintain an adequate level of care; according to Dennis, some are putting in 75 hours overtime in one pay period, in addition to their regular 80 hours of work. He’s worried being understaffed will lead to employee burnout: in the nursing staff, medical support assistance and even the mailroom.

“The force is already too low,” Dennis said. 

When contacted by the Journal regarding the rally, and asked how he plans on protecting his constituents who both work at and receive assistance from the Northport VA, Congressman Nick LaLota of NY, District 1 said: “More money and more staff don’t always mean better results, but as a Navy veteran and someone who passed 8th grade math, I know that slashing the VA’s workforce by 20% would seriously harm my fellow veterans. Thankfully, the Trump Administration assured me that no such plan exists. Even more importantly, the Republican-led continuing resolution that Congress just passed – and President Trump signed – fully funds the VA, ensuring our veterans get the care and support they deserve.”

While the continuing resolution mentioned by LaLota ensures that the Northport VA will have the funds to remain operational, Dennis said, it does not guarantee that cuts won’t be made to the workforce. (According to the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act passed on March 15, the resolution does include funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and military construction, though the funding for these areas has been reduced by about 5% compared to fiscal year 2024 levels, a decrease of $7.7 billion.)

“We do have enough money to keep the place running but staffing, we still feel that staffing is an issue,” Dennis told the Journal, referencing a reduction in force, or RIF, that went into effect on March 14, and is scheduled to continue through mid-August. A hiring freeze had already been implemented in February. “We feel that [staffing] is still going to be reduced,” he said. “That’s why we had the rally.” 

He used as an example a Northport VA probationary worker who was terminated from her position – she found out when she showed up for work but couldn’t log into her computer – and has not been brought back, despite a federal judge ordering White House officials to reinstate dismissed probationary workers. 

“They said it was because of work performance,” Dennis said. But the employee had just received a “fully successful” rating on her midterm review, he noted, the highest rating an employee can get. 

Also causing confusion for Northport VA employees is the “What did you do last week?” email from OPM (the United States Office of Personnel Management), a directive asking two million federal employees to provide five bullet points explaining their accomplishments in their job over the prior week, first sent to employees on February 22. A second email with the same request was sent six days later. 

On March 1, AFGE National asked members to check their personal emails for guidance from AFGE regarding the “What did you do last week? Part II” email. Two days later, Dennis and other VA employees were advised by local leadership that while OPM was not requiring it, they should “do what they feel is best” when choosing whether or not to respond to the email. “I just don’t understand it,” Dennis said. “Some of us do the same thing every day.” Still, he writes and submits an email detailing his accomplishments every Monday, by the 11:59pm deadline. 

Many workers are just trying to protect their jobs, Dennis said. While some Northport VA employees joined the March 15 rally, coming out during lunch, others were afraid of retaliation and didn’t attend. “They’re afraid the agency would go after them because they spoke their mind, even though we do have a first amendment,” Dennis said, admitting that the fight to be heard has been hard. “We’re here to negotiate at all times, but it seems like we’re not getting anywhere anymore. We’re not being heard,” he said. 

Dennis emphasized that while Local AFGE 1843 is here to protect the employees, they’re still focused on providing the best care for their patients. But he knows that both employees and veterans are suffering. 

“When you’re starting to take away staff, it’s affecting the patients. The patient sees what is going on. The reason the patients come here is because at some point they wanted to use community care. But they also come here to feel the camaraderie, to see other veterans, and deal with doctors that have experience and are concerned. The nursing staff is unbelievably concerned. Everybody here puts the veterans first,” Dennis said. For many employees, he said, working at the Northport VA is not just a job, it’s a passion and they’re dedicated to making life a little better for their patients.  

The ultimate goal, and what he’ll continue to fight for, Dennis said, is for Local 1843 to remain on the grounds and keep meeting with management to provide the best care for the VA’s patients, “and help out our employees at the same time, relieve them of this stress, knowing they’ll still go above and beyond for our veterans.”