22Apr
“This was a shameful piece filled with misleading information and lies about the purpose and power of unions. The editorial board is essentially saying veterans don’t deserve labor power.”
Washington, DC – Today, Common Defense, a grassroots veterans organization, condemns a bizarre WaPo editorial board op-ed denouncing union power at the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). Today’s Washington Post opinion piece argues that eliminating collective bargaining rights at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will somehow “improve care.” Common Defense rejects this premise. This op-ed is a cynical attempt to pit veterans against the very people dedicated to caring for them, all while ignoring the real, structural challenges that afflict VA.
The piece argues that VA unions protect bad workers. This is not true. Unions uphold basic standards of care and support for Veterans. The op-ed cites past failures on union involvement. Dismissing collective bargaining as the root cause ignores systemic issues: chronic understaffing, resource shortages, and decades of under-funding at the VA.
In response, Jose Vasquez, Common Defense’s Executive Director, said:
“Rather than attacking union power and basic labor protections, policymakers and corporate-leaning media should focus on ramping up investment in VA: staffing, mental-health services, outreach programs, and facility maintenance, to name a few. This shameful op-ed is another example of corporate greed permeating into supposedly “objective” coverage under Bezos’ Washington Post.
“Whether it is Amazon employees or Veterans that fought for our freedoms, Jeff Bezos is a dedicated union buster and the Post under his guidance should be treated no differently after today’s shameful attempt to blame veterans for structural problems created by people like Bezos himself. If the Post’s editorial board cares about protecting taxpayer money, it should ask people like Bezos to pay their fair share in taxes instead of ducking accountability for years. Democracy thrives when workers have a seat at the table, not when they are silenced in the name of ‘efficiency’ masked as greed.”
###
Common Defense Civic Engagement (501c4) (CDCE) is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.