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Hundreds Rally outside VA to Stop DOGE Cuts

WI AFL-CIO
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Workers, union members, and concerned citizens gathered outside the Zablocki Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee on Friday to protest President Trump and Elon Musk’s cuts to our federal workforce.

Nurses, supply technicians, social workers, carpenters, housekeeping staff and more detailed how low-staffing levels already impact workers and patient care at the VA. Workers at the VA in Milwaukee are members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 3 union, the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP) Local 5000, AFT and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Wisconsin.

Monica Luecking-David, a nurse at the VA and chapter president of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals said the Zablocki Medical Center has long dealt with understaffing and additional cuts will make it more difficult to care for our veterans.

"Every nurse knows this, every veteran knows this. Everyone who loves a nurse or a veteran knows this," said Luecking-David.

The staff at the VA hospital in Milwaukee alone cares for over 62,000 veterans annually.

Russell Schneider, a member of SEIU Wisconsin has worked as a carpenter at the Zablocki VA Medical Center for over 40 years.

“I know how critical the VA is,” Schneider said. “It’s personal for me, and it’s personal for every worker here today.”

An internal memo obtained by the Associated Press found that the Trump Administration plans to cut an additional 80,000 jobs, a whopping 20% of staff, from the Veterans Affairs department.

Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale explained how President Trump and Elon Musk want to privatize services to line their own pockets and the pockets of their billionaire friends. Bloomingdale urged President Trump and DOGE to stop the cuts and remember that it is the hard work of skilled, knowledgeable workers who make our country run.

“Federal workers and public sector workers make our country right in countless ways that too often go unnoticed until they are not there. And then our country will come unglued.”

Milwaukee Area Labor Council Pam Fendt MC’d the rally, explaining “we are out here in support of and in solidarity with this facility and with all the workers who work here. We don’t want to see services and staff cut, we want to see care and quality increase for our veterans.”

Congresswoman Gwen Moore stood in solidarity at the rally and pledged to fight to protect jobs and services for our veterans. “We are standing solid to make sure they don’t claw back the promises of the PACT Act. Don’t say you love our veterans and then cut their workforce by 80,000 people.”

“At a time when the VA is serving more veterans than ever before, these purges are a slap in the face to the those who have sacrificed for our country,” said Congresswoman Moore.

Media Coverage of the Rally

The Wisconsin labor movement will continue to stand together to support federal workers and stop attacks on quality services for veterans and all Americans.