Stop Downgrades at the VA
Secretary McDonough and the VA
IMPORTANT: Do not use a government email, government equipment, or agency time to sign or disseminate this petition.
Recent action by the VA is threatening the livelihoods of thousands of VA employees across the nation.
At the direction of Secretary Denis McDonough, the VA is considering reclassifying and downgrading thousands of VA workers’ jobs. Such a reckless decision would result in lower pay and employee morale, and would be counterproductive to VA’s attempts to recruit and retain VA staff.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently used its authority to review several VA positions and determine whether those positions were appropriately classified in the correct occupational series and grade level. As a result of that process, OPM issued decisions finding that two positions, Industrial Hygienist GS-0690-12 and Purchasing Agent (Prosthetics) GS-1105-06 were not properly classified at the correct grade level. But now, Secretary McDonough and the VA are using these limited OPM decisions as an excuse to consider additional downgrades through a process known as “consistency reviews” – an unjust and unnecessary attack on VA workers. And to make matters worse, Secretary McDonough and the VA are targeting positions held primarily by veterans. Not only would these downgrades widen the already large pay disparity between the VA and the private sector, but also pose the risk of losing well qualified and loyal VA employees seeking higher pay. This could result in numerous positions remaining unfulfilled, further supporting the case for privatization.
While the AFGE National VA Council has demanded to bargain with the VA and is ready to protect workers, we need to make sure Secretary McDonough hears us loud and clear: Sign this petition and tell Secretary McDonough that we will not stand for any more downgrades.
VA’s consistency reviews may impact more than 4,000 VA workers, 56% of whom are veterans themselves. These workers are essential to VA operations and for the care of our nation’s heroes. We cannot allow the VA to downgrade their jobs.
AFGE NVAC members have a history of taking on the VA and OPM on downgrades and winning! We mobilized and urged OPM and the VA not to downgrade positions ten years ago, and we need to take the same action now.
Tell Secretary McDonough and the VA: downgrades must be completely off the table. We will not allow the hard work of our VA brothers and sisters to be undervalued.
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To:
Secretary McDonough and the VA
From:
[Your Name]
Recent action by the VA is threatening the livelihoods of thousands of VA employees across the nation.
At the direction of Secretary Denis McDonough, the VA is considering reclassifying and downgrading thousands of VA workers’ jobs. Such a reckless decision would result in lower pay and employee morale, and would be counterproductive to VA’s attempts to recruit and retain VA staff.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently used its authority to review several VA positions and determine whether those positions were appropriately classified in the correct occupational series and grade level. As a result of that process, OPM issued decisions finding that two positions, Industrial Hygienist GS-0690-12 and Purchasing Agent (Prosthetics) GS-1105-06 were not properly classified at the correct grade level. But now, Secretary McDonough and the VA are using these limited OPM decisions as an excuse to consider additional downgrades through a process known as “consistency reviews” – an unjust and unnecessary attack on VA workers. And to make matters worse, Secretary McDonough and the VA are targeting positions held primarily by veterans. Not only would these downgrades widen the already large pay disparity between the VA and the private sector, but also pose the risk of losing well qualified and loyal VA employees seeking higher pay. This could result in numerous positions remaining unfulfilled, further supporting the case for privatization.
While the AFGE National VA Council has demanded to bargain with the VA and is ready to protect workers, we need to make sure Secretary McDonough hears us loud and clear: Sign this petition and tell Secretary McDonough that we will not stand for any more downgrades.
VA’s consistency reviews may impact more than 4,000 VA workers, 56% of whom are veterans themselves. These workers are essential to VA operations and for the care of our nation’s heroes. We cannot allow the VA to downgrade their jobs.
AFGE NVAC members have a history of taking on the VA and OPM on downgrades and winning! We mobilized and urged OPM and the VA not to downgrade positions ten years ago, and we need to take the same action now.
Downgrades must be completely off the table. We will not allow the hard work of our VA brothers and sisters to be undervalued.