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Congress is attempting a cynical bait-and-switch with our veterans, and we need you to take action right now.

The newly introduced Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA, H.R. 9237 / S. 4744) includes critical, long-overdue wins that the labor movement has fought years to achieve, including the Major Richard Star Act. But instead of fully funding it, Washington politicians have built a dangerous trap: they want to pay for these expanded benefits by raiding the pockets of newly disabled service members.

If passed in its current form, this legislation will:

• Slash Disability Ratings (Section 108): Bypasses the standard rulemaking process to permanently cut disability ratings for service-connected sleep apnea and completely erase standalone compensation for tinnitus—historically the single most common injury from military service. It forces an estimated 1.5 million future disabled claimants to foot a $57 billion to $60 billion bill.

• Lock In VA Privatization (Sections 601 & 602): Hardcodes rigid private-sector referral metrics directly into federal law, siphoning vital resources out of direct, public brick-and-mortar VA facilities and funneling them into private, for-profit networks.

• Trigger Public Sector Layoffs (Section 642): Establishes formal guidelines for Reductions in Force (RIFs) within the VA, threatening the stable, unionized careers of thousands of Title 38 healthcare professionals and claims processors who dedicate their lives to caring for us.

Just days ago, delegates at the AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention passed Resolution 18, handing our organization a clear mandate to aggressively fight corporate greed, defend against privitization of the VA, and protect working-class veteran benefits.

Caring for veterans is an earned cost of war. We cannot honor a promise made to one generation of service members by breaking it for the next. The Union Veterans Council stands firmly with the combat and disability champions at the VFW and DAV in demanding that Congress split the bill and pass a clean, standalone version of the Major Richard Star Act that doesn't sacrifice our public workforce or our wounded warriors.

TAKE ACTION NOW:

Contact your Representative and Senators immediately. Tell them to stand with working-class veterans, reject the cruel offsets in the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, and demand a clean vote on the Major Richard Star Act.

Find your Representative here

In Solidarity,
Craig Romaovich
Union Veterans Council, AFL-CIO

June 19–July 2, 2026, Bulletin