She immediately contacted her local union stewards to start the grievance process.

Marilyn Jimoga-On is a night-shift nurse at the Illinois Veteran’s Home at Quincy represented by the RC-23 bargaining unit of INA. Over the course of her 45-year career, she has enjoyed a spotless disciplinary record. It came as a shock, then, when she received a letter from the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) stating that her position was being terminated following an alleged physical altercation with a contract nurse.

“I can talk, I can argue, but I’ve never had an altercation in my whole life,” Marilyn said. “I was so shocked… I was expecting my employer to protect me because I did not do anything wrong.”

She immediately contacted her local union stewards to start the grievance process.

In the meantime, her coworkers—one of whom calls her “Mom” for the way she mentors colleagues—rallied around her. They wrote letters of support. They called to check in. One colleague circulated a petition, signed by 39 coworkers, demanding CMS re-instate Marilyn at the VA.

In March, they finally received some good news. After months of meetings with CMS, the INA had won Marilyn’s case and she would be returning to work soon.

Now back at work, Marilyn is grateful to her fellow union members, and relieved to be back with her patients.

“I owe the union a great deal,” she said. “If the union did not fight for me, I would not have gotten my job back.”