The Department of Veterans Affairs has stopped downgrading the pay status of some support positions for the time being, the American Federation of Government Employees has announced.
The union had staged a rally outside VA headquarters in protest of the downgrades, which affected primarily patient support assistants, medical record clerks and transportation assistants.
AFGE argues that the department arbitrarily targeted the lowest paid part of its workforce for classification reviews, and that the VA has not demonstrated that the downgrades improve the functioning of the organization.
The VA has reportedly established a classification oversight-working group to come up with options to balance position reclassifications.
