VA CT Healthcare System · 203-932-5711 ext. 11285
VA CT Healthcare System · 203-932-5711 ext. 11285
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Your membership means real representation, stronger contracts, and a voice on the job.
Support for grievances, disciplinary actions, and Weingarten rights during investigatory interviews.
Power achieved via collective bargaining to secure competitive compensation and family-supporting benefits.
Access to robust national legal resources when your federal employment rights are at stake.
When thousands of VA Connecticut members speak together as one, the agency is forced to listen.
Complete this brief secure form to connect with a workspace representative and initiate your safe digital eDues.
✓ No initiation fee to get started
✓ Dues deducted automatically pre-tax
✓ Immediate professional steward access
✓ Coverage for all bargaining-unit employees
✓ Member-only discounts and AFGE national benefits
Get in touch directly with the VA Connecticut local executive office:
Call: 203-932-5711 ext. 11285
Email: office@afge2138.org
This is what every new VA Connecticut professional should know.
Better wages and working conditions are negotiated, not given. The contract means termination for cause only, progressive discipline, and a grievance process with binding arbitration. You never face management as an isolated individual — you face them as a member of a bargaining unit. And the more members we have, the stronger our voice, at this facility and on Capitol Hill.
Dues are $20 per pay period. For that, you get access to a deep pool of resources — attorneys, trained representatives, and lobbyists working for better pay and working conditions. Compare the cost: private attorneys for federal employment cases run into the thousands of dollars for a single matter, and one avoided suspension or protected raise pays for years of dues.
Only partly. The union must represent all bargaining unit employees in matters under the contract’s grievance procedure. But the union is NOT required to represent nonmembers in statutory appeals — EEO complaints, MSPB hearings, workers’ compensation — where members get support that nonmembers would have to pay an attorney for.
I’m sure you’re capable — so am I. That’s exactly why it works when coworkers combine forces. None of us knows when we’ll run into a problem: supervisors change, agencies reorganize, budgets get cut. Together we can depend on each other.
Yes — you are covered by the contract’s provisions during probation. Know your probationary period: nurses serve a 2-year probationary period; social workers and psychologists serve 1 year. The key exception is that if you are terminated during probation, you generally cannot challenge the termination through the grievance and arbitration procedure. Other avenues, such as an EEO complaint if discrimination was a factor, may still be available — and this is exactly why probationary employees benefit from joining early. Talk to a steward about your specific situation.
Yes. The VA terminated the AFGE contract in August 2025 under a 2025 executive order, but in March 2026 a federal judge ordered the VA to reinstate the Master Agreement and local agreements, and this Local was re-certified in April 2026. We are fully operational — representing employees, filing grievances, and resuming arbitrations — while the litigation continues. If anyone tells you the union ‘doesn’t exist anymore,’ send them to us.
We meet with the Medical Center Director on staffing, safety, and workload; we enforce the contract when management changes schedules or working conditions without bargaining; we represent employees in investigations, performance disputes, and discipline; and we take cases [PENDING — closing to be supplied by the Local].
Joining is confidential — with eDues, your membership never appears in any Agency system.
Your union runs on volunteer energy. Whether you have five minutes a month or five hours a week, there is a role that fits.
Help maintain and improve the Local’s online presence
Write and publish the monthly member newsletter
Support digital outreach and internal communications
Elected position; CT AFL-CIO liaison and meeting coordinator
Full training provided plus official time; represent members in grievances and investigations
Confidential role — your identity is never listed; be the quiet connection point at your facility
Bridge between the Local and community organizations
✓ Your right to organize is written into federal law (5 U.S.C. § 7102). Retaliation is an unfair labor practice under § 7116.
✓ Membership is confidential — the membership list is never shared with the Agency.
✓ eDues is invisible to the Agency — paid from your personal bank account, nothing appears on your pay stub.
✓ You choose your level of visibility — from fully public steward to completely anonymous area contact.
The more of us there are, the safer each of us becomes.
Union officers consult AFGE’s national attorneys on member cases — at no cost to the member.
Union officers consult AFGE’s national attorneys on member cases — at no cost to the member.
All included in dues of $20 per pay period.
Plus personal legal benefits through AFGE membership: free initial consultation and discounted attorney fees for personal matters.
Compare: one hour with a private employment attorney costs $300–$500.
Typical cost
$300–$500 / hour
Out-of-pocket expense
That is true — and it is the single most common reason professionals give for not joining. Here is what it misses: the contract does not enforce itself. When management violates a provision — and it happens regularly — someone has to file the grievance, track the deadlines, sit across the table, and if necessary take it to arbitration. That someone is a dues-paying member’s representative. Free riders receive the contract’s baseline protections, but they do not receive individual representation in investigations, they do not shape bargaining priorities, and they have no voice in how the union operates. The contract is the floor. The union is what keeps management from treating it as the ceiling.
Every within-grade increase, every locality adjustment, every premium-pay provision in the Master Agreement was won at the bargaining table by AFGE members — not handed down by the Agency. The 2023 Master Agreement took years to negotiate. Members set the priorities, stewards enforce the terms, and national representatives fought for every clause. When you benefit from the contract, you are benefiting from the work of the members who came before you.
Arbitrations can cost thousands of dollars per case. Your dues fund the stewards, the preparation, and the attorneys who take your case to hearing — at no additional cost to you.
Stewards receive formal training in contract enforcement, investigation procedures, and federal labor law so they can represent you effectively.
Room B-129 in Building 6, West Haven. Staffed five days a week, Wednesdays until 8:00 PM. A physical presence the Agency knows is there.
AFGE’s national attorneys are available to consult on your case. Washington staff advocate for federal employee interests on Capitol Hill. This is what scale buys.
One hour of a private employment attorney costs $300 to $500. Your entire annual dues cost less than a single consultation.
A vote and a voice — Members vote on union leadership, on bargaining priorities, and on how the Local operates. Non-members have no say.
AFGE Member Benefits — Discounts, insurance options, legal consultation, and more through the AFGE national benefits program. Call 888-844-2343 for details.
Standing — When you are a member, you are not just a name on a list. You have standing to shape the organization that shapes your workplace.
Join AFGE Local 2138 today and stand with the clinical and administrative professionals serving Connecticut’s Veterans.
Secure eDues enrollment means no paperwork and complete agency-confidential membership.
