AFGE wins election to represent Veterans Affairs workers

Thousands of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs voted Thursday to have the American Federation of Government Employees represent them, ending a turf war that lasted more than a year. Until the election, the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) represented some 3,000 of the nearly 14,000 collective bargaining unit employees at VA hospitals and in regional offices. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, was able to convince enough of those employees to vote to switch from NFFE to completely win representation of employees in the nonprofessional unit, which includes custodial service and other support staff employees. A run-off election will decide the representation of 3,800 doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other professional unit employees, because neither union was able to draw the majority of their vote. A union must get 50 percent plus one vote of all ballots cast in order to win a representation election. Federal employees can be part of a bargaining unit and vote in representation elections without joining a union or paying union dues. AFGE President Bobby Harnage called the election "a hard-fought and clear victory." The two unions, which are both affiliated with the AFL-CIO, have been fighting for more than a year to represent thousands of employees at several major departments and agencies. According to AFL-CIO policy, its affiliated unions can't raid each other for members. But in 1999, NFFE charged that AFGE was going after bargaining unit employees at several agencies where NFFE already represented workers, including the Departments of Interior and Housing and Urban Development, and the Bureau of Land Management. AFL-CIO officials concluded that AFGE was not guilty of raiding at the agencies. "Our union is leading the way and clearly the majority of these employees understood that," Harnage said. Counting Thursday's win, AFGE now represents 60 percent of Veterans Affairs employees. NFFE officials have until Thursday to protest the election.