The union representing about 1300 workers at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System in Danville has won a reversal of some orders handed down by the Trump administration. The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1863, had requested and was granted an injunction after claiming the Executive Order goes against the union’s master contract.
Union President Vicki Dodge and some other union members from Danville had traveled to Washington, D.C. in July to attend a hearing on the matter. Dodge says the union won all key provisions in the ruling, including being able to re-open their union office at the local VA Medical Center.
The Acting Secretary of the Veterans Administration, Peter O’Rourke, had said last month that the new executive order from President Donald Trump ‘’ensures the proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars. He said it offered reasonable standards for union representatives and made clear that they should spend the majority of their duty hours on federal government work.
Dodge says since they closed the union’s office she has been forced to work on union business during her lunch hour. She adds discussions are continuing with the local VA on what happens now that the injunction has been granted.
