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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The union representing employees of the nation’s Department of Veterans Affairs complex is calling for tens of thousands of vacant positions to be filled to improve veterans’ care and worker morale.

“If they are trying to fill those positions, there are thousands of Americans looking for jobs right now,” said Steven Rael, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees and a CT radiology technologist.

The AFGE says that more than 49,000 positions are unfilled, citing Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin’s May 3 testimony to a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

Rael said that although the hiring situation at Albuquerque’s VA hospital is “better than others,” the vacancies are affecting the level of care of veterans and employee workloads.