One such case where an employer was charged and found guilty of bad faith bargaining is in the negotiations between Veterans Affairs (VA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). The suit alleges that the VA has negotiated in bad faith, and has been unwilling to roll-back many of the anti-union policies of the previous administration (Wagner, 2023). An independent arbitrator ruled in favor of the AFGE, citing incidents where the VA attempted to negotiate terms on items that were not part of open contract negotiations, essentially making demands of closed contracts to reach a deal on the open contract. In this way overreaching on their bargaining power and negotiating in bad faith (Wagner, 2023).

This is an accurate judgement that anyone can see is a clear overreach by the employer. The terms of the contract are what are open for negotiation, to attempt subversion of open issues by negotiating closed issues is disingenuous and not in the best interest of reaching a deal.

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