(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) has officially certified the election where Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration’s (NCA’s) Memorial Products Service (MPS) Workers successfully voted to join American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 17.

These newly minted Union Members work at three remote processing locations in the States of Illinois, Kansas and Tennessee.

Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, they had worked out of offices located at the cemeteries.

Local 17 previously represented the Workers in Tennessee and Kansas, but once they became remote, the NCA designated them as unrepresented.

Now that MPS Staff has won their election, they’re looking forward to addressing issues such as overtime concerns and performance evaluations.

“I was really excited,” Local 17 3rd Vice President Megan-Brady Viccellio said. “Local (17) already represents several of these Employees and we’re really heartened that they wanted to come back to the fold. I think they had experience with the protection of the really robust master agreement at the VA.  It was a (14-0) vote. That speaks volumes about the value they see.”

To Directly Access This Labor News Report, Go To: Service & Solidarity Spotlight: VA Memorial Products Service Employees Vote to Join AFGE | AFL-CIO

National AFL-CIO Provided Photo.