Federal employees union to rally at West Haven VA

New Haven Register – Monday, March 3, 2025
By Brian Zahn

WEST HAVEN — About 120 people gathered outside of the West Haven VA Monday morning as part of a rally organized by a union for federal government employees to demand an end to what it deems attacks on federal workers.

While people at the rally said no one in West Haven has lost their job, speakers said vacancies haven’t been filled and they’re working under full staff levels.

More than 1,000 federal employees working for the Department of Veterans Affairs have been fired under President Donald Trump, although repeated efforts by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to receive specific numbers have been ignored, Blumenthal has said.

Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, and various local politicians and union leaders also spoke Monday.

“The stakes are nothing less than the good and welfare of the veterans, the American people and the communities they’re in,” said AFGE national representative Samuel Neimeiser. “The West Haven VA is a beacon of health care for thousands and thousands of veterans in Connecticut and the surrounding region. They’re already understaffed, and if you were to lay off more or cut back on hours it doesn’t just hurt the workers.”

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