Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—New lawsuit challenges VA’s termination of NVAC collective bargaining agreement, (Nov 5, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute § 7103 and EO 14251 authorize determinations only for agency or agency subdivisions, not union-by-union determinations.

A lawsuit by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National Veterans Affairs Council (NVAC) and American Federation of Government Employees Local 2305 challenges the actions of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) terminating the 2023 Master Collective Bargaining Agreement (Master Agreement), under which the VA recognized NVAC as the exclusive representative of more than 300,000 bargaining unit employees. The lawsuit, which asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleges the cancellation of the Master Agreement was arbitrary and capricious, in excess of statutory authority, and contrary to NVAC’s constitutional rights (American Federation of Government Employees National VA Council v. U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, No. 1:25-cv-00583-MRD-PAS (D.R.I. Nov. 4, 2025)).

Chapter 71 protections. Federal employees were granted the right to bargain collectively in 1978 under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71. Pursuant to this right, the VA and NVAC entered into the Master Agreement, which governs the collective bargaining relationship between them and gives critical rights and workplace protections to bargaining unit employees. Section 7103 of the statute allows the president to “issue an order excluding any agency or subdivision thereof from the obligation to engage in collective bargaining if: (1) the agency or subdivision has as a primary function intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work; and (2) the provisions of the statute cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”

EO 14251; termination. President Trump invoked § 7103 when he issued Executive Order 14251, excluding the entire VA (other than “the immediate, local employing offices of any [VA] police officers, security guards, and firefighters”) from collective bargaining obligations. The EO authorized the VA Secretary to exempt certain subdivisions of the VA from the reach of EO 14251 and return them to coverage under Chapter 71. The Secretary issued an order on April 11, 2025, exempting seven entities from the EO; the exemption did not include any AFGE affiliates, including NVAC, AFGE Local 2305, or any other Local on behalf of which NVAC acts. The order did not provide any explanation for why the Secretary chose to exempt non-AFGE affiliates or why he chose not to exempt AFGE affiliates. Despite the April 11 order, the VA took no action to formally terminate the Master Agreement until August 6, 2025, when the Secretary announced he was unilaterally terminating the Master Agreement effective immediately, including “any amendments, local supplemental agreements, and memoranda of understanding at all levels with NVAC/AFGE for all VA bargaining unit employees, except police officers, firefighters, and security guards represented by NVAC/AFGE.”

Arbitrary and capricious, abuse of discretion, contrary to law. The complaint argues that the termination was arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, as the termination and the April 11 order were issued without any rationale or justification. The complaint argues the termination does not comply with the plain text of EO 14251’s language prohibiting its application to the “immediate, local employing offices of any agency police officers, security guards, or firefighters” because it has the effect of denying Chapter 71 coverage and contractual protections from bargaining unit employees who are employed by such offices.

The complaint further argues that the VA admitted its decisions to exclude NVAC members and represented employees form Chapter 71 coverage and to terminate the Master Agreement were premised on union political activity, as opposed to statutorily prescribed national security considerations, in violation of § 7103(b)(1)(B). The termination was also inconsistent with an Office of Personnel Management (OPM) memorandum instructing agencies not to terminate collective bargaining agreements during the pendency of litigation over EO 14251.

Violative of APA’s prohibition on agency action contrary to the Constitution. The complaint argues that the termination of the Master Agreement violates the APA’s prohibition on agency action contrary to the Constitution. By terminating NVAC’s collective bargaining rights, the Secretary retaliated against NVAC for its political and legal advocacy and affiliation with AFGE; discriminated against NVAC based on NVAC’s viewpoints “hostile” to the Trump administration’s policies; infringed on the right to petition by chilling employees’ participation in grievances, arbitration, and litigation; and infringed on the right to free association by impinging NVAC’s ability to organize and advocate with its bargaining unit employees, all in violation of the First Amendment. The termination also violated the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection by singling out NVAC for disfavored treatment based on the Secretary’s and the Trump administration’s political views and ideologies, while favoring unions that they believe do not hinder the Trump administration.

In excess of statutory authority. The complaint argues the Secretary acted in excess of his statutory authority when he issued both the termination and the April 11 order, as neither the VA nor any identifiable subdivision has a primary function of intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative, or national security work. Further, both § 7103 and EO 14251 authorize determinations only for agency or agency subdivisions, and neither permits such union-by-union determinations.

The case is No. 1:25-cv-00583-MRD-PAS.

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