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are afraid that members of their care team could be fired or leave, and their care will slip through the cracks. In June, Fornnarino and Westmoreland appeared on the Work- ing People podcast, a partnership with In These Times and the Real News Network, to discuss cuts to the VA and the attacks on federal workers. Westmoreland was also interviewed on the America's Work Force Union Podcast about the impact of cuts on veterans and the VA Employee Fairness Act. They urged listeners to call their repre- sentatives and senators to stop cuts to the VA and to support the bill. "No matter what executive orders are out there, we are going to stand for the right thing for our patients," said Westmoreland on the America's Work Force Union Podcast. "In the VA, we have a lot of patients who don't have support…We are their support. We are their family. We are the people that hold their hand when they're going through difficult diagnoses. We're the person who is standing there when that patient's in hospice and they're taking their last breath. We want to be standing there with them so no veteran dies alone." Chuleenan Svetvilas and Rachel Berger are communications specialists at National Nurses United. 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 21 VA Nurses Rally from Coast to Coast Over the past months, VA union nurses held numerous rallies to speak out about cuts to the Veterans Health Administration (VA) and to protect the union rights of VA nurses and other federal workers. The nurses rallied at VA facilities in San Diego, Calif.; Chicago and Hines, Ill. (about 25 minutes west of Chicago), Cincinnati, Ohio; Manhattan, N.Y.; Durham, N.C.; and Atlanta, Ga. VA nurses were often joined by veterans, other union members, community groups, and legislators, including California Sen. Alex Padilla, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, and Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois' 4th Congressional District. At the Chicago rally in March, VA nurses from Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, VA Hines Health Care, and Captain James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center were joined by Cook County nurses to demand an end to staffing cuts at the VA. In April, Sen. Padilla joined VA nurses at the San Diego rally. In May, Sen. Durbin and Rep. Garcia joined VA nurses at their May rally in Hines, Ill. Meanwhile, dozens of VA nurses traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally on June 6, mod- eled after the 1932 Bonus Army's march on Washington. Organized by the Unite for Veterans Coalition, the rally spotlighted attacks on veteran benefits, called out attempts to privatize the VA, and rallied the veteran community to defend the institutions that serve them. Irma Westmore- land, RN and chair of NNU's VA Division, spoke at the rally. "When the administration says they want cuts, we say no!" said Westmoreland at the Unite for Veterans rally. "We need to live up to what we told and promised our veterans. We told them that we would be there for them. And we need to do that. They stood for you and me, and I ask you now to stand for them. No cuts to the VA!"