Court Slaps VA With Contempt Threat After Secret Move to Kill Union Contract — Again

A federal judge threatened to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs in contempt of court on March 27, 2026, after the VA secretly re-terminated the union contract covering 320,000 VA employees — defying her earlier order to restore it. Judge DuBose granted AFGE's (American Federation of Government Employees) enforcement motion and set a contempt hearing for April 3.

A federal judge threatened to hold the Department of Veterans Affairs in contempt of court today after the agency covertly re-terminated the union contract for 320,000 VA employees — hours after saying it had complied with her order to restore it.

The ruling is a major win for AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) and every Hampton VA Medical Center employee covered by the Master Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

What Happened — The Full Story

March 13, 2026: U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, Rhode Island issued a preliminary injunction ordering the VA to restore the VA-AFGE Master CBA. The court found that VA Secretary Douglas Collins “favored some unions over others” when the Trump administration’s March 2025 executive order stripped collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers. The VA was ordered to fully reinstate the contract — covering 320,000 VA employees — while the legal challenge continued.

The VA’s response: words without action. The department claimed it “reinstated” the Master Agreement, then continued denying every right in it. One VA employee who recently gave birth was told by management: “The union has not been reinstated, maternity leave cannot be extended at this time, and you will need to report to work as scheduled.”

AFGE filed a motion to enforce the injunction on March 20, arguing that hundreds of thousands of VA employees “are irreparably harmed each day that defendants fail to comply.”

Thursday night, March 26: In an after-hours court filing, VA Secretary Collins sent AFGE leadership a memo declaring that — despite the court’s order — the VA was re-terminating the contract on national security grounds. Collins argued Trump’s executive order had excluded the VA from the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (FSLMRS), rendering the CBA void regardless of what any judge ordered.

The Justice Department attorney representing the VA told the court Friday that by re-terminating the contract, AFGE’s motion to enforce the injunction was “moot.”

Judge DuBose wasn’t having it.

Today’s Ruling — March 27, 2026

In a hearing Friday, Judge DuBose called the VA’s move what it was:

“For you to suggest that all of the work that was done prior to the re-termination is kind of mooted out, and we kind of disregard, is really a blatant disrespect for not just this court’s order, but for the rule of law.”

AFGE attorney Travis Silva put it plainly: “There is no doubt that the defendants are openly defying the court’s preliminary injunction. They didn’t appeal, they didn’t move for a stay. They know how to do those things. They haven’t done them for whatever tactical reason, and so they need to comply.”

Judge DuBose granted AFGE’s motion to enforce her preliminary injunction. In a written order issued after the hearing, she:

  • ✅ Ordered the VA to immediately notify all covered employees that the Master CBA is in effect “in both form and substance”
  • ✅ Required the VA to submit status reports on how it is complying
  • ✅ Set a deadline of Tuesday, March 31 for the VA to explain why she should not hold the agency in contempt
  • ✅ Scheduled a contempt hearing for April 3, 2026

In a separate written order, Judge DuBose also blocked the VA from canceling bargaining agreements with seven additional unions covering approximately 2,800 VA employees.

What This Means for Hampton VAMC Employees

Your rights under the VA-AFGE Master Agreement are in effect. A federal court has now said so twice — and today ordered the VA to tell you directly.

The Master Agreement guarantees you:

  • ✅ Official time — the right for union representatives to conduct union business on work time
  • ✅ Weingarten rights — the right to have a union representative present in any investigatory meeting that could lead to discipline
  • ✅ Parental leave protections — four weeks of additional parental leave beyond the federal baseline
  • ✅ Fair disciplinary procedures — management cannot discipline you outside the procedures in the Master Agreement
  • ✅ Grievance and arbitration rights — if management violates your rights, you have the right to file a grievance and take it to binding arbitration
  • ✅ New Employee Orientation access — AFGE Local 2328 has the right to present to all new employees at Hampton VAMC

If management has told you the union “doesn’t exist anymore,” or denied you any of these rights since August 2025 — that denial may now be actionable. Contact us.

What You Can Do Right Now

  1. Know your rights. The Master CBA is in effect. Management is under court order to treat it that way.
  2. Know your Weingarten rights. You have the right to a union representative in any meeting with management that you reasonably believe could result in discipline. If management denies this right, stop the meeting and contact us immediately.
  3. Document everything. If your supervisor denied you leave, disciplined you outside the CBA’s procedures, or told you the union “isn’t reinstated” — write it down. Dates, names, exact words. These violations may be grievable.
  4. Join your union. The contract fights for you whether or not you pay dues — but dues fund the legal battles that produced this win. Sign up today: join.afge.org/L2328
  5. Spread the word. Tell your coworkers. Every Hampton VAMC employee has a stake in this outcome.

Sources

In solidarity,
AFGE Local 2328 — Representing the employees of Hampton VA Medical Center

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