National Nurses United

"Every day we feel the effects of the current staffing crisis as nurses struggle to provide timely therapeutic care to veterans with- out the nursing or support staff we need," said Sharda Fornnarino, RN and NNU Denver VA director. "Sec. Collins has said he will not cut 'mission critical' staff, but we know ancillary staff are critical to providing care to our veterans." "When we don't have housekeeping staff, lab technicians, or dietary personnel, all those duties become the nurses' responsibility," said Fornnarino, who is also a Navy veteran. "This takes valuable time away from a nurse who should be caring for the clinical needs of their patients. We are shortchanging veterans who may need emotional and educational support after receiving a life-changing diagnosis. Now is not the time to shrink the VA but rather grow the VA so we can fulfill our mission and our promise to be there for vet- erans in their times of need." The firing of federal probationary employees, including VA staff, began in February and then some were reinstated in response to a court order. Although registered nurses were exempt from that round of firing, the loss of ancillary staff meant that nurses were forced to do the work of supply clerks, dietary staff, and housekeeping—running to other floors to find basic supplies like IV bags and bandages, deliver- ing meal trays, and cleaning rooms. VA nurses faced another challenge on March 27, when the administration issued an executive order that attempts to take away federal workers' collective bargaining rights claiming "national secu- rity" is at issue. In response, NNOC/NNU joined a lawsuit with four other unions challenging the executive order, alleging that the executive order is a retaliatory attempt to punish federal employee unions that have been engaging in constitutionally protected speech (See sidebar "Unions sue over federal union busting"). "It is because of our unwillingness to back down that nurses and other unions are feeling the retribution that came down on March 27 with an executive order designed to strip us of our union rights," said Westmoreland at the Unite for Veterans rally at the National Mall, which dozens of VA nurses also attended. "It is union busting and intimidation, plain and simple. But we're fighting back!" Nurses hit the streets and began holding rallies across the country at their facilities (See sidebar, "VA Nurses Rally from Coast to Coast"). They also urged people to call their members of Congress to tell them to protect the union rights of VA nurses and federal employees. A P R I L | M AY | J U N E 2 0 2 5 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 19

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