Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

On behalf of the National Association of Government Employees (SEIU/NAGE), and the more than 100,000 workers we represent, including 20,000 at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), I would like to thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding pending legislation before the Subcommittee. 

H.R. 949

SEIU/NAGE strongly supports H.R. 949. This bill would restore a meaningful scope of bargaining for Title 38 health care providers at the VA, a critical necessity to boost morale and strengthen recruitment and retention at the agency.  Giving health care providers a meaningful voice in their workplace will without question lead to better care for the American veteran.

In 1991, Congress amended Title 38 to provide VA medical professionals with collective bargaining rights (which include the rights to use the negotiated grievance procedure and arbitration). Under Sec. 7422 of Title 38, covered employees can negotiate, file grievances, and arbitrate disputes over working conditions, except for matters concerning or arising out of professional conduct or competence, peer review, or compensation.  In recent years, VA management has interpreted these exceptions very broadly, and refused to bargain over virtually every significant workplace issue affecting medical professionals.  The broad interpretation Sec. 7422 has created significant dissatisfaction among rank-and-file VA health care providers.

We have heard from our members across the country, and they have urged our union to make passage of H.R. 949 our top legislative priority for legislation impacting the VA workforce.  Their concern is that too many highly qualified, outstanding health care professionals have left the VA for other employment because they were unsuccessful in getting someone of authority at the agency to listen to or address legitimate concerns because managers claimed the issue fell under the ever-growing umbrella of Sec. 7422. 

The agency has been unwilling to address those issues that are most important to Title 38 employees, including time schedules, shift rotations, evaluations, fair and equal opportunity to be considered for a different position within the facility, and fair treatment among colleagues.  Rather than suffer under a system where they have no mechanism to provide input or air grievances, disenfranchised VA employees simply move on to other employment.  This has gone on too long, and it has to stop.

VA medical professionals have extremely limited collective bargaining rights in the first place, and the broad interpretation of Sec. 7422 of Title 38 is narrowing the scope of bargaining to the point that it is practically meaningless. As a result, RNs, doctors, and other impacted employees at the VA are experiencing increased job stress, low morale and burnout. This in turn exacerbates the VA’s well-documented recruitment and retention problems. Chronic short-staffing has been shown to adversely impact quality of care, patient safety, and workplace safety, leading to costly stopgap measures such as the overuse of contract nurses and doctors.

Passing H.R. 949 would help to address many of these concerns.  This bill would restore a meaningful scope of bargaining for Title 38 VA professionals by eliminating the “7422 exceptions” (conduct, competence, compensation, and peer review) under the law. 

Eliminating these exceptions will provide these health care providers with the same rights as other VA providers, including psychologists, LPNs, and pharmacists, as well as other federal employees. Title 5 healthcare providers at the VA have full collective bargaining rights.  Even nurses and doctors at Army Medical Centers such as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who perform the same exact function as nurses and doctors at the VA, have full collective bargaining rights.  Many private sector health care providers have a meaningful voice on working conditions and are allowed participation in hospital affairs. There is no reason for Title 38 VA workers to have these critical rights taken away.

Late last year, the VA engaged SEIU/NAGE and other unions in discussions to produce recommendations we hope will reduce the VA’s invocation of Sec. 7422.  Our discussions through the 7422 Work Group are ongoing.  Though we continue to hope that the 7422 Work Group will produce reforms, it cannot address the fundamental issue of limited collective bargaining rights.  Only Congress can address that issue. 

Restoring meaningful bargaining rights will greatly increase morale at the VA.  It will also address recruitment and retention issues, which are critical at this time, given the veterans returning home from conflicts abroad. All this will lead to better care for our nation’s veterans. 

SEIU/NAGE strongly urges the Congress to pass H.R. 949.  I greatly appreciate the Subcommittee’s decision to hold this hearing.  I thank the Subcommittee for the opportunity to provide this statement.