DALLAS—About 300 enthusiastic North Texans, most of them military veterans rallied at the Veteran Affairs (VA) Hospital on Lancaster Road in Southern Dallas on March 14 to say no to Elon Musk’s firing of 2,400 VA employees, including 14 in North Texas.
The terminations are the first round of a plan by the Trump-Musk administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eventually eliminate 80,000 workers at the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The protesters came to stand together against threats of closing the venerable Dallas VA Medical Center, the only facility for veterans within the region, and to oppose any cuts in veterans’ medical care and benefits.
The event was called by several Democratic Party clubs in Dallas, and the leading speaker was Kardal Coleman, the Dallas County Democratic Party Chair. Coleman led the chant, “Respect our vets!” Also, at least two local union presidents from the American Federation of Government Employees shared the podium.
Crystal Chism, a city councilwoman in Desoto, gave a fiery speech, declaring:
“Not only do I use this VA, but my dad uses this VA because he’s a veteran, but so does my husband. We come from a family of veterans who have fought and sacrificed for this country, and I’ll be damned if…someone is going to come in and tell us that they are going to reduce the staff on an organization that needs more help, that needs more resources, that needs more people!”
Chism asked, “Do we not deserve world class health care?”
She urged the demonstrators to take action and contact their members of Congress. “Blow up their phones like a collection agency! Don’t let them collect your tax dollars without representation,” Chism said. “They need to know that they need to invest not de-invest from veterans!”
Sheria Smith, president of American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 252, spoke in solidarity. Smith was also recently fired from her position in the Department of Education by DOGE. Local 252 represents approximately 2,400 bargaining unit employees nationwide.
“In this administration, they are disrespecting veterans, they are trying to eliminate the services that these veterans have earned like at the Veteran Affairs, it is an attack on veterans.”
Smith said the attack on the Department of Education is another blow by this fascist administration to chip away at the public education system. Recalling Trump’s claim that he “loves the uneducated,” Smith said the educated could have read Project 2025 because Trump and the Republicans telegraphed and wrote down exactly what they planned to do before the election.
Speakers were surrounded by other AFGE members and demonstrators with signs that read: “How does decreasing employees help improve patient care?”, “Veterans Against Musk,” “No Cuts to the VA,” “Save the VA for our Vets,” and “Protect those who protect us, Stop the attacks on our Veterans’ Benefits.”
Also on hand, but not speaking, were the top leaders of the Dallas AFL-CIO and the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans. Labor is setting an example of cooperation in a time of many “popup protests” organized by different groups at times and places that threaten to distract from one another. Those who watch the scene carefully are beginning to see a new period of labor-led cooperation among progressive organizations.
Kenneth Williams, an Air Force veteran and member of Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, explained why he was at the protest. He said many of the employees that are being fired are also veterans. “They are trying to take away services for veterans so they can provide tax cuts for billionaires like Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and I’m saying, ‘We are not having it.’”
Dallas AFL-CIO members held up signs promoting the “Department of People Who Work for a Living,” a slogan recently coined by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.
Shuler said the purpose of the Department of People Who Work for a Living is to “unite working class people to stand up to these attacks…by Elon Musk and a bunch of billionaires…taking away our rights and our livelihoods.”
Shuler said, “When a big story breaks, the Department of People Who Work For A Living will bring in workers who are on the ground, leaders from our unions and from our movement to help you make sense of what’s going on, and what you can do about it.”
Texas has more veterans, 1.4 million, than any other state, and the VA Hospital in Dallas is a central part of the city’s health infrastructure, with so many people relying on it that the municipal government built a rail line directly to its front door.
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