Who we are

For the people
who care for veterans.

AFGE Local 221 is the union of frontline employees at the VA Boston Healthcare System — and part of a movement 750,000 federal workers strong.

Home/Who We Are

Our mission

Hold management accountable. Lift every member up.

Local 221 exists for one reason: so the people who keep the VA Boston Healthcare System running never have to face management alone. We enforce the contract, represent members in every grievance, fight for safe staffing and fair treatment, and give frontline employees a real voice in the decisions that shape their work.

We represent a broad bargaining unit — nurses and nursing assistants, housekeeping and environmental services, food service, clerical and administrative staff, engineering and trades, police, and more — across the Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, and Brockton campuses and the community clinics around them.

What ties us together isn't a job title. It's the belief that working people are stronger together, and that a hospital is only as strong as the people who staff it.

"We are a movement, not a memo."

— AFGE Local 221

What AFGE is

The American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, is the largest federal employee union in the country, representing some 750,000 workers across the federal government and D.C. government. Founded in 1932, AFGE has spent more than nine decades defending public servants — their pay, their rights, and the public services they provide.

What Council 53 is

Local 221 belongs to the National VA Council (NVAC), AFGE Council 53 — the body that coordinates AFGE locals across the Department of Veterans Affairs and negotiates the national Master Agreement that covers our members. When we sit across from VA Boston management, the full weight of that national contract sits with us.

Who we represent

One unit, many hands

Clinical

Nurses, nursing assistants, pharmacy, lab, and the clinical staff at the bedside.

EVS

Environmental & food

Housekeeping, environmental services, and food service — the people who keep the hospital safe and fed.

ENG

Trades & engineering

Engineering, maintenance, grounds, and skilled trades across all three campuses.

ADM

Administrative

Clerical, medical records, scheduling, and the administrative backbone of patient care.

Police & safety

VA police and safety staff who protect patients, staff, and the campuses.

And more

If you're in the bargaining unit, you belong here — whatever your role.

Years of standing up

AFGE has fought for public servants since 1932. Local 221 carries that fight to VA Boston every single day.

For the peoplewho care for veterans.