Rally in Seattle on March 27 to ‘Keep the Promise’ to veterans

SEATTLE — When he campaigned for office, President Donald Trump promised to fix problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs that he blamed on poor management by “medical directors.” Last June, he signed a new law making it easier to fire VA employees, but instead of targeting managers, the law is being used to terminate frontline employees at the already understaffed agency.

Our nation’s veterans deserve the highest quality of care, but the Trump administration and Congress are instead pushing VA privatization and exacerbating staffing shortages by firing frontline workers and refusing to hire the staffers necessary to provide that quality care.

The American Federation of Government Employees encourages all union members and supporters of veterans to join VA employees as they send a loud message to President Trump and the VA administration and demand that vacancies at the Seattle Veterans Hospital be filled immediately. Join AFGE’s “Keep the Promise!” Rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27 outside the Seattle VA Hospital, 1660 S. Columbian Way. (Please download the rally flier, share and post it!)

Veterans didn’t serve our country overseas just to come back to wait in line for substandard care at private facilities. The best solution for our nation’s veterans is to fully staff every VA facility nationwide. By Secretary David Shulkin’s own admission, there are 49,000 vacancies at our nation’s Veterans Affairs installations. That is a national disgrace. Each one of these vacancies is a missed opportunity to make good on our nation’s promise to care for those who have served our country.

Please join AFGE and veterans’ supporters at the March 27 rally.