TOPEKA, KS — Union leaders at the Colmery-O’Neil VA Medical Center are packing boxes and clearing out offices this week after the Department of Veterans Affairs moved to terminate collective bargaining agreements, strip union access, and shut down grievance systems under Executive Order 14251.
It’s not just VA. An email obtained by ThisisTopeka from Gary Chura, DHA Central Region Labor Attorney, confirms that the order — titled “Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs” — is being enforced across other federal agencies, including military medical facilities.
“We are pausing Union grievances and arbitrations at this time,” Chura wrote, promising further updates “when available.”
For AFGE Local 906 in Topeka, the impact is immediate:
- Union space reclaimed for other VA uses by Aug. 12, 2025
- Grievances and arbitration frozen
- Official time revoked for union officers
- Operations default to agency handbook policy without a negotiated contract
“This Is War, Not Surrender”
AFGE District 9 Vice President Diana Hicks — who personally joined a Kansas local president in packing up union offices — blasted the move as a “union-busting agenda” from “#47,” warning it could spread to other federal workers.
“We will not be broken. We will not be silenced… This is war, not surrender. Hold the damn line,” Hicks told members.
Hicks ordered locals to:
- Follow lawful work orders to the letter
- Document every act of retaliation or harm
- Secure union records off government systems
- Support each other “like your careers depend on it — because they do”
A National Fight With Local Stakes
The VA claims reclaiming union-occupied space will free up room for patient care. Union leaders counter that it’s a calculated dismantling of worker protections — protections they argue safeguard both employees and the veterans they serve.
AFGE is urging Congress to pass H.R. 2550, the “Protect America’s Workforce Act”, to restore bargaining rights removed by EO 14251. Until then, Topeka’s VA workers face a workplace where their union can still organize, but without the formal power of a binding contract.
This story is developing. If you are a VA or federal employee in Kansas affected by EO 14251, contact ThisisTopeka confidentially at [email protected].
