About 80 picketers rallied outside Ann Arbor’s Veteran Affairs medical center Wednesday afternoon, saying they want to protect veterans and workers in the federal system that handles veterans’ benefits.
Some drivers honked in support of the picketers, who waved banners protesting the Trump administration’s moves to terminate contracts with unions representing federal employees.
Robert Malash, the local AFGE 2092 union president, said the group organized to urge Congress to pass a bill that could reverse an executive order ending the contracts.
Picketers also demanded the federal government reverse budget cuts to the VA and rehire thousands of fired workers across the country. The Trump administration has argued these cuts, and the termination of union contracts, would save money and improve the job performance of VA employees.
Malash said union organizing is constitutionally protected, and that Trump's moves were “anti-American.”
“We believe it’s a constitutional right, and without due process, we believe that we can’t stand up for veterans the way we need to,” Malash said.
Picketers chose to stand in front of the medical center to demonstrate solidarity with Ann Arbor’s VA workers, Malosh said.
“There are millions of people out there in America that still support bargaining unit rights,” Malsoh said.
Michigan is home to more than 500,000 veterans, according to a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The Great Lakes region, which includes the state, is home to over 21,000 VA workers.
The rally was organized by anti-Trump organization Ann Arbor Indivisible, groups from the VA Union, and the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation.
Michelle Deatrick is with the labor federation, and, she said, also also part of a military family.
“My dad, my brother, my uncle, my cousins — they rely on these services, these health services, for their physical and their mental wellbeing,” Deatrick said.
“This administration is going after federal workers now, but it’s gonna be everyone else next.”
Christopher Arbino, the acting communications chief for VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, said President Trump is “putting veterans first.” He said 17 new clinics had opened under the Trump administration, and Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget would add billions of dollars to the VA’s budget.
