Brought to you by Southworth PC—Attorneys for Federal Employees

Our online community now tops 150,000 federal workers and supporters across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Each briefing distills the day’s most consequential developments, adds clear-eyed legal analysis, and pairs it with mindfulness tools that keep you steady no matter how turbulent the news cycle becomes. If this newsletter helps you stay informed, please pass it on: https://fedlegalhelp.com/newsletter. Your advocacy broadens the protective circle for every federal employee.

Top Three News Stories:

1. VA Officially Terminates Collective-Bargaining Agreements Covering 377,000 Employees

The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a press release at 3:35 p.m. announcing it has ended contracts with five major unions, immediately stripping union protections from more than three-quarters of its workforce. Secretary Doug Collins said the move will “put Veterans first” by eliminating what he called “free regional union offices.” Exceptions apply only to VA police, firefighters, and certain security staff. VA News

Legal Insight: 

Contract termination does not eliminate individual statutory rights: employees still have MSPB, EEO, whistle-blower and OSC avenues. Unions may file an unfair-labor-practice charge alleging unilateral repudiation; the FLRA can seek a status-quo ante order and back pay. VA must preserve personnel records tied to official-time or grievance activity—destroying them risks a separate prohibited-personnel-practice claim. Employees should save copies of any pending grievances; they may need them in alternate forums.

2. Watchdogs say VA Move Appears to Flout OPM Guidance and Court Assurances

VA’s mass cancellation comes despite OPM’s June memo telling agencies not to act on the March executive order until litigation is resolved. In recent court filings the Justice Department also told judges that agencies would “wait for clarity” before voiding contracts—a claim unions say is now demonstrably false. Legal analysts predict the discrepancy will surface in ongoing Ninth-Circuit and D.C.-Circuit cases challenging the order. Government Executive

Legal Insight:  

GAO or an agency IG can flag VA for ignoring OPM’s government-wide guidance, and that finding could prompt Congress to add an appropriations rider reversing the action. If a court later rules the contract terminations illegal, the usual remedy is a status-quo-ante order restoring the agreements and back pay for lost official-time hours. Employees and unions should keep precise records of any denied representational time to support a future make-whole claim.

3. Unions Vow Coordinated Litigation and Highlight Patient-Care Risks

AFGE, NNU, and three other VA unions issued separate statements calling the action “illegal union-busting” and pledging to revive their joint lawsuit filed April 3 in the Northern District of California. AFGE said the contract terminations remove nurse-staffing ratios, training provisions, and workplace-violence language that “directly protect veterans’ care.” National Nurses United warned that high-turnover facilities could lose critical staffing incentives once merit-pay articles disappear. AFGE

Legal Insight:

Unions can request that OSC seek a 45-day stay of any personnel changes that appear to be retaliation for protected activity. They may also petition district court for a preliminary injunction; success hinges on demonstrating irreparable harm including for instance to veteran care and a likelihood of prevailing on the merits. Individual employees who experience adverse actions tied to the contract voiding should file a timely OSC complaint (45 days) or MSPB appeal (30 days from effective action) while the broader lawsuit proceeds, or otherwise proceed as appropriate.

Mindful Moment of the Day: 

Mindful Use-or-Lose Leave Planning    

The next time you open e-OPF to schedule annual leave, pause and imagine—vividly—the first three sensory details of that future downtime: ocean spray, mountain pine, or simply silence over morning coffee at home. Neuroscientists call this “episodic future thinking,” and studies at NIH show it boosts dopamine release, making the restoration feel real enough to motivate follow-through. When you submit the SF-71 with that mental picture fresh, you’re not just blocking dates; you’re wiring the prefrontal cortex to protect those boundaries when last-minute projects appear. Paradoxically, employees who ritualize this visualization take *fewer* sick days the quarter after vacation because the nervous system has practiced being at ease.