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Petersburg, Sarasota.

[music] Coming up, developments out of the US Veterans Administration are being closely monitored in Florida and Texas.

The states with the largest populations of veterans.

We take a look at the changes.

The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation joins us to talk about its Hiring our Heroes program here in Florida, its program helping military spouses and how local employers can get involved and meet the military spouse who was told she could not get a job and went on to create a multi-million dollar company hiring other military wives.

That's next on Florida This Week.

[music] Welcome back everybody.

I'm Lisette Campos.

There is a lot to get into in the world of veteran affairs and benefits.

Employee cuts announced by the Veterans Affairs Office are set to take effect on September the 30th.

The VA says that nationwide reduction is part of a larger strategy to create more efficiencies, invest in more high performing employees and make necessary infrastructure improvements.

Critics, though, are raising concerns about the continuity and the quality of care.

The Veterans Administration made a series of announcements this summer.

Changes to proposed staffing cuts, survivor benefits and collective bargaining agreements with union employees.

Here's a look.

By the numbers 30,000 VA employees will be laid off instead of 80,000.

The move is attributed to voluntary retirements.

$800 million.

That's how much the VA will invest in systems to modernize its infrastructure.

It will expand automation to process claims for survivor benefits and changes to its health and benefits.

Mobile app will make it easier for veterans to file for mileage reimbursement when traveling to and from medical care.

Two physician referrals will no longer be required for care at non-VA Medical Centers.

The changes, they say, are designed to increase veteran access to additional health care providers.

The most talked about change involves union contracts.

400,000 VA employees saw their union contracts canceled.

The VA announcement came after President Trump's executive order barring unions from automatically withholding union dues from employees paychecks.

That same order also excludes specific federal agencies from entering into collective bargaining agreements.

The VA's police officers, firefighters and security guards are exempt from that executive order.

The union contracts of these 4000 plus workers does remain unchanged.

The VA has defended these changes as a move to modernize and increase efficiencies, as well as focus on patients.

On its website, it cites long standing practices that are union focused to the detriment of veterans.

And joining our discussion are attorney and subject expert Samantha Ghezelbash.

She is the managing partner at Legal Lion Employment Law Firm.

Also here is journalist Katelyn Ferral.

She's a political reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and has been reporting on developments at the VA.

And Galen Wheless, he is president of the Local 1594 Bay Pines VA regional office.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Katelyn, I'd like to start with you.

Tell us about what you found in your extensive reporting on the issue of veteran affairs changes.

Sure, so the most recent article I did that just came out earlier this week, centered around a report that's released by the Department of Veterans Affairs itself, the Office of Inspector General.

Every year, they look at the number of positions within the VA system and the number of staffing shortages.

So how many fewer employees are in those specific roles?

This is a report that comes out every year, and it's been a long standing issue as far as reporting severe staffing shortages.

And that's the agency's word in a number of direct care roles.

And so the story that I did really looked at that report.

It examined the extent to which we're seeing severe staffing shortages at the VA's at Bay Pines in Pinellas County and at James Haley VA in Hillsborough County, and highlighted some of those direct care roles in the the confluence of that, those severe staffing shortages, the end of collective bargaining for many employees, um, and the way that those factors may compound to affect veterans.

One of the things that you looked at in your reporting was the wait times specifically for mental health services.

Explain that to our viewers.

Correct, so one thing that folks might be interested to know is that you can actually go onto the VA website.

There's a dashboard and you can see wait times for a variety of services across VA's in your region.

One of the things that I was looking at specifically at the VA, really for the James Haley VA in Tampa, it's a quite large VA is looking at wait times for individuals who are new patients looking to get mental health care.

Mental health demand or demand for mental health has increased dramatically over the last decade.

And initially, when I started reporting that looking at the VA numbers, the wait times were in excess of 100 days for a new patient to come in and get an individual appointment.

Now, I have since seen that that number has decreased.

It went up as I was reporting it and then it has since in the last week decreased.

And so I think it can vary um quite wildly.

But you know, it's important to note, I think that psychiatrists were one of the positions that had severe staffing shortages.

And so that's one of the important things to look at is wait times.

I will say the VA has said that they have continued to improve wait times, and investing in infrastructure is a big part of that.

They say, um, but you can kind of go and check the numbers yourself as well.

And Samantha, this is something this is an issue that is, um, has a lot of people talking about what the roles of the unions are from your perspective as an attorney, explain how not having a collective bargaining agreement impacts not just the staff, but maybe the community that is serviced by that staff?

Absolutely, so I think first and foremost, it can absolutely affect the morale of the employees, which obviously can affect the services being provided to the veterans and the public.

On the VHA side, for example, when you have nurses, physicians, um, not feeling comfortable at work, feeling distracted about what might come next, knowing that they can't have a union rep if they're called into a meeting to explain, let's say, a report of contact that might not even involve something directly with them, just something they witnessed from a patient.

It makes them nervous and uncomfortable.

So you don't want employees that feel uncomfortable, like they can't speak frankly and like they don't have support in the workplace.

On the veterans benefit side, very similarly, there are a lot of performance standards that relate to quality and production and things of that nature.

And it can be very complicated to sort of allow those employees to understand what they're supposed to be focusing on.

And the union largely helped them to make sure they had clarity on that, that things were fair among all of the employees.

And now, even though you have people like Galen still continuing to do their work, they're doing when management won't allow them into the meetings, won't acknowledge their attempts to bargain and uphold a CBA that is technically still legal.

And there's been no ruling on the legality of removing the collective bargaining.

You have employees not feeling comfortable not reporting things and the quality of their work can suffer.

And while I don't think we're seeing that immediately, that's something that, moving forward in months and years may affect the quality of decisions that affect veterans and people in the public.

As far as the benefits, decisions and appeals on those decisions, which is already a very lengthy process.

Galen, tell us about what you are seeing at Bay Pines.

I can definitely speak to the morale.

It's in the tanks.

Part of our job is to, you know, interpret policy and law and regulation.

And so when the agency appears to be ignoring policy and law, that is stressful.

I mean, you know, employees are asked to do it.

The agency should too.

When you look at how the employees on the front lines are doing their work and the ability to report things that are concerning to them, or maybe there's an idea on doing something a different way.

A better way.

Um, what is the mindset?

What is the system that will be in place where they can bring that information to the forefront.

Well, I think that is a big concern for a lot of federal practitioners like myself, is that without the union present, I mean, again, they're present, but them being given the time, resources and ability to actually engage.

It eliminates a lot of the place that they used to have to, you know, vocalize those concerns or protections they have if they did vocalize and then face some sort of retaliation, frankly.

Um, and along those lines, other venues where employees could take these concerns or sort of being neutered, for lack of a better word, they don't have a lot of effect.

They're being broken down at the same time.

And so when you have employees that can't vocalize, if there's patient safety complaints, possibly, um, you know, other illegal actions going on, you have an employee workforce that, um, is not going to bring issues to light, that are transparent, that affects taxpayers, that affects the services, you know, going to veterans in the community.

Um, and there really is not a place for that now.

You know.

You've said that you have some cases that you're looking at where the focus has been on productivity and meeting a certain number.

Can you share a little bit more with that?

And then I'd love for Galen to to chime in on that.

Yes, and I think one specific example I gave was that there is a policy at one of the local VA's here recently that was implemented for how employees get holiday leave.

It used to be based on seniority, and the union obviously helped to ensure that that was facilitated fairly and properly.

And as of recent weeks, that has been changed to the employees who get the best production rather than quality or seniority, are now going to get first dibs on holiday leave.

And you can see where, of course we want productivity, but we've always had productivity from federal employees.

That's really not an issue in the way that, you know, some people in the administration have said that it is, um, but it incentivizes employees to focus on numbers and going through cases quickly.

And while we hope everybody does a good job that, you know, humans are incentivized to get their time off for their families and themselves, too.

So you don't want the focus to be on productivity when you remove the union from being able to effectively bargain over that?

Um, it can create, obviously, backlash in the kinds of services and decisions that are then coming out that the veterans rely upon.

How difficult is it for the folks who are involved in this to speak out about the things that they like or that they don't like about this?

It's almost like a wall of silence.

Um, and this year they removed something they do generally every year, the all employee survey, which is, um, you know, a mechanism for management to hear from employees.

They've also removed, um, at least at our regional office, a comment box for the for a director's comment box.

And so, yeah, it's difficult to get, um, it's difficult to know how to ask for any accountability.

Right.

With the VA no longer honoring the contract, um, for example, I can speak to myself.

I've used the VA.

They have their own procedures for for grievances and things.

If if we notice a mistake, um, and the agency's been ignoring their own procedures, so it's just we're left very frustrated and stymied and not knowing.

How do we bring up very valid concerns?

These are some honest, good hearted questions that just are being ignored.

Katelyn, you how difficult has it been for you to get information you talked about looking at the website.

You talked about going over the report, um, with data.

But what about talking to people who are in the front lines working?

Yeah, I can concur that it's difficult.

I think that overall, um, you know, kind of what you've described has described has contributed to really a chilled climate overall and I understand.

You know, taking a step to talk to a reporter is kind of a different ball of wax.

And sometimes that's often, you know, it's like someone will say, I've tried everything and nothing has worked.

And so now I'm talking to you, the reporter.

So I understand the reticence around that.

But I think, you know, I want to let people know that I'm, I, um, it's hard to shine a light on what's going on, you know, when people won't talk, but that I'm always.

I'm in the process of trying to connect with veteran groups in the community and always happy to talk off the record or on background.

And I think people it seems to me that people have a real sense that, um, that retribution or retaliation, if their name is in the paper, can be a real thing.

And even retirees who are getting benefits, um, I sense that, and I've heard that.

And so, so yeah, it's definitely a struggle.

Thank you so much for adding your perspectives.

Um, we always try to bring different voices to the table and just amplify different voices so that the residents at home.

The viewers at home can decide for themselves and get informed before they make any decisions.

So thank you so much for helping us do that.

And coming up, you're going to meet two military spouses working outside the boundaries and politics of the VA.

We take the interviews earlier this month during a break in the national book tour of one of the guests, you'll see how her engagement helped to create a program for military spouses that's flourishing at the US Chamber Foundation.

But first, here are some veteran resources at the state and federal level.

[music] We welcome to our panel, Alexandra Johnston of the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Alexandra is the deputy director of corporate fellowships in the eastern US Division for the Hiring Our Heroes program.

Also here is Lauren Wittenberg Weiner, founder and former CEO of WWC Global.

She's a TEDx speaker and the author of the national bestseller Unruly.

Welcome, welcome.

We're so excited to have you on the set with us today.

Um, Alexandra, I'd like to start with you tell our viewers about the Hiring Our Heroes program.

Sure, so Hiring Our Heroes is a non-profit organization.

We are based under the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Washington, DC, but we run our programs nationally.

And one of our programs, the one that I run, is a skill bridge program that helps transitioning service members connect with meaningful employment.

Outside of that, though, hiring our heroes is a lot of different programs for military spouses, veterans, and then of course, also the transitioning service member population.

So for the transitioning service member, um, do you how do you run it?

Do you, do you partner with local businesses that offer opportunities?

How does that work, and how can the business community get more engaged in this program?

We have such a large military community here in Tampa Bay.

Yes, so we have relationships with both large corporations, and then also rely heavily on the local business community, working through local chambers and local employers that are interested in hiring transitioning service members and military spouses.

And you work with transitioning service members that can enter a variety of industries, right?

It's not just limited to to defense or security, things like that.

Yes, absolutely.

If you look at a military installation, it's like a mini city.

So really, the skill set of transitioning service members will dip into every single sector.

And that is part of the program is to really work with a variety of industries, variety of roles.

And we see that happen every single day.

It's never it's never the same thing.

You are a military spouse.

So I assume that working with military spouses is is very, a very satisfying part of the work that you do.

Tell our viewers about the Amplify program.

Yes, so another part of our programing is for military spouses and Amplify.

We actually had a Tampa Amplify last week.

We bring together military spouses for a two day program where the first day, they get to really think through what they want to do with their careers.

They prepare their professional branding statements, review their resumes, and then on the second day, they have a chance to interact with employers.

I know that Lauren is not expecting this, but you were so happy when we were able to confirm that you were both coming, because you said that Lauren played a key role in really establishing the military spouses programing at hiring our heroes.

She sure did.

So I started at hiring our heroes as a volunteer for what we call the military spouse professional network.

And a few years after that, or about a year after that, when I got really involved with Hiring Our Heroes, I learned that Lauren had actually started that platform and created that conversation for military spouses across the entire country and entire globe on various military installations to be able to come together, support each other in their conversations about employment.

Lauren, I want to take the viewer back to that moment.

If they don't know you, which is a small possibility, you are, you know, having a wonderful career twenty some years ago, you're working at the White House.

Um, you get married and your husband is deployed overseas, and you leave your job and you want to work.

Yeah, What happens when you get to Italy?

So, yeah, so my husband was a civilian at the time.

So he had been in the military, but was civilian and got an offer to go to Italy.

So he asked me to marry him, asked me to quit my job at the White House and sell the house and move overseas.

And we got there and I was told that military spouses couldn't work at certain levels.

And I had been at pretty high levels in the White House at that point, and I didn't do well with that.

So long story very short, we ended up starting or I ended up starting the company really just for me to do work back in the States until I could get home and get back to my regular career.

And it just kind of took off because there were so much there was so much need for not only the services that military spouses could provide effectively, because they are so incredible, because they are so smart, because they are so motivated and professional.

And nobody was recognizing that, um, but it gave the spouses something professional to be able to do.

And so it really kind of scratched an itch and everyone jumped on it.

Tell our viewers the nature of the work that you all did at WWC Global.

We were doing government contracting.

So we did HR, human capital.

We did um, strategic planning, budgeting, budget execution and accounting.

We did almost everything on the business side of the government across the 18 years that I was running the firm.

We covered every aspect of it for probably 10 or 15 different agencies across the board.

One of the things that you talked about in your Ted Talk was how surprised some of the high ranking men were in the contracts that you were servicing, when they would find out that WWC Global was a woman owned business.

Yep, um, share some of that.

And it's funny, I'll tell you, it wasn't the high ranking men so much as it was kind of the mid-level, the operators.

We got a very large contract at Special Operations Command, and the actual no kidding operators were like, hey, you guys are good leaders.

We're good.

Right?

So that was great.

And it was affirming.

But there were other people oftentimes who were adjacent to the operational community who were like, you can't do this unless you're an operator.

And it turned out not to be true, right?

They couldn't have done it as a non-operator, but not because they didn't, they weren't operational, but because they weren't willing to do the work.

And so we were willing to do the work.

We knew exactly what we were doing in the space we were doing it.

And the people who mattered the most really didn't care that we were women and not operational.

By the time you sold the company, 18 years later, you sold it for was it 100?

You were making $100 million in annual revenues.

You had employed more than 350 people.

Um, and I remember you said the quote of, I built a business because someone told me I wasn't allowed to work.

I did.

What's the response when you share that story now with military spouses?

So look, I think we've changed.

We and I mean broadly, we I think Alex is certainly a part of that.

We have changed the conversation around military spouse employment.

Um, from the earliest days that we were doing this, I had people saying to me, oh, I love hiring military spouses.

They make great secretaries and they do, but they make a whole lot more than just secretaries.

There's nothing wrong with being a secretary.

But nobody thought of them as any different than there was eight years ago when we first started the company.

There was something that came out in one of the military publications, mlitary.com, Military Times, whatever it was, I don't remember which one.

That said top ten careers for military spouses.

And it was bagger at the commissary.

It was dog walker.

It was child care worker.

Um, there was nothing remotely professional in that list.

Not at all.

And so I think we've now been able to change the conversation very substantially, kind of and challenge the way people look at things and the rules around military spouse employment.

Um, not only the written rules, which we did, but the unwritten rules of, oh, this is what military spouses can do.

Right, right, and so currently you're on a tour of the U.S.

with the new book unruly.

Congratulations in the top ten of the national best selling books.

Um, what is your the reception that you've received when you go out into the community and you talk about, you know, being able to change the game.

Um, and not changing the rules for the, for the, for doing that sake, but for creating your own success within the space.

Yeah, you know, I think we're at a moment right now, um, that is particularly critical to start talking about doing things within the rules, because there seems to be a whole lot of people who are breaking the rules with impunity.

Um, but I think there's a way to work within the systems, within the rules, but really change those systems to make them work for us and to make them work for everyone.

And so that's gotten a great reception.

People are really talking.

We've got, you know, people ask me who's your audience?

And they're like, is it women?

I'm like, yeah, is it men?

Yeah.

Is it's everyone.

Because we're talking about kind of character and civic education and really making our systems work effectively for us, both personally and then as a, as a broader system.

So it's been it's been a blast going around and talking to people.

Congratulations.

I'd love to end this segment with both of you really delivering a message to military spouses and also to active duty service members.

We're so grateful for military families in our community who are such a staple of our economic system, our culture.

What is your message to them as they, you know, look ahead to what happens next in their lives, whether they're going to transition into civilian life, or maybe have to make some hard decisions about what works best for the family.

Alexandra, I'd like to start with you.

Sure, my recommendation would be to find at least 1 or 2 people that you can have conversations with that are related to your career, right?

Whether it's whatever you studied, whatever you want to do, even if it's not the right time, and rely on organizations like Hiring Our Heroes or so many other organizations that also work in this space to seek out some resources and encouragement, I think, to to continue that conversation both with yourself and within your community.

Lauren, and you can't say, get unruly after that.

No, I think I. Think there is a lot of, um, kind of concern about showing up and being, you know, I hear military spouses, but also transitioning veterans wondering how they can present themselves.

Um, I do think as a former employer, um, there are employers that are looking for the skills that you bring.

You've got to tell the story correctly.

You've really got to get your brain around what story you're telling.

I believe almost everything in life is storytelling, right?

And so where you go is based on the stories that you're telling, based on the communications that you can have with those employers.

But you've got to own your own superpowers.

You've got to own what you want and authentically what you want, not what everyone tells you to do.

Never what everyone tells you to do, but what you actually want, and then figure it out and tell your story.

Very inspiring, thank you both for being here.

That's all the time that we have for now.

Again, thanks to our panelists on behalf of the entire team here at WEDU.

Thank you so much for watching.

[music] Florida This Week is a production of WEDU who is solely responsible for its content.