In a statement, the department said it had notified five large unions that VA was ending their collective bargaining agreements, effective immediately. The affected unions are the American Federation of Government Employees, the National Association of Government Employees, the National Federation of Federal Employees, the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, and the Service Employees International Union.

According to federal employment records, up until Wednesday, VA had more than 377,000 employees represented by unions out of a total workforce of 483,000. The only exceptions to the contract terminations were for police, firefighters and security personnel who were exempted from the executive order. Officials said there were roughly 4,000 employees in those exempt groups.