CLEVELAND, Ohio. — The impact of the VA’s decision to cut 1,000 jobs is hitting home, with over 60 non-union employees across Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana receiving pink slips, leaving many veterans and their advocates concerned.

The dismissed probationary employees — dismissed in a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement last week — might translate to a handful of Northeast Ohio VA employees losing jobs, said Brian Pearson, executive secretary of the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. The union represents 80,000 employees in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties.

It isn’t known if workers at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in University Circle will be affected by the job cuts, Pearson said. A spokesperson for the Louis Stokes medical center gave no information beyond the federal announcement.

However, if deeper cuts to VA probationary employees happen in the future, a bigger portion of the approximately 280,000 probationary federal employees in Ohio could be affected, Pearson said.

It’s not known when the administrative leaves or job terminations take effect, Pearson said.

Union members and public officials plan to demand protections for civil service employees at a rally scheduled for Thursday outside of the Anthony J. Celebrezze Federal Building from 11 a.m. to noon.

The dismissal of more than 1,000 non-bargaining unit probationary employees “who have served less than a year in a competitive service appointment or who have served less than two years in an excepted service appointment,” will save more than $98 million annually, which will be used to fund health care, benefits and services for VA beneficiaries, the federal announcement said.

Darryll Bell, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 31, hopes to hear specifics in the next couple of weeks. The American Federation of Government Employees represents about 6,500 workers in Ohio.

VA workers in the American Federation of Government Employees include physicians, nurses, anesthetists, pharmacists, emergency medical services, food service workers and more, Bell said.

“There’s a lot of concerned people as to what the future holds for their employment at the VA, because all of this is very unnecessary,” Bell said.

Loss of employment for VA workers would hurt Northeast Ohio’s economy, add to the public assistance rolls, and reduce the Veterans Administration’s ability to provide service to veterans, Bell said.

The federal government is the largest employer of veterans, Pearson said. Nearly 30% of VA employees nationwide are veterans, according to federal data.

“I think it’s irresponsible to hurt the individuals who their sole purpose, regardless of who occupies the White House, is taking care of the vets. You know, that doesn’t make any sense,” Bell said.

In addition to Louis Stokes, the VA medical system includes clinics in Summit and Lake counties, Sandusky, Lorain, and other Northeast Ohio communities, according to the VA website.

The Veterans Administration’s presence in Ohio includes 47 Veterans Health Administration facilities, five National Cemetery Administration offices and three Veterans Benefits Administration offices, according to the federal agency.

Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.