ACTION ALERT: Ask your legislators to support increased taxes on the wealthiest Vermonters
Send a message to your legislators in support of H.621, a bill that would increase taxes on the top Vermont income earners!

AFT Vermont Legislative Action Day
February 26th, 2026
10 am- 4 pm legislative action day; 4 pm-6 pm legislative reception
Vermont State House, Room 11
RSVP here

Earlier this week, Hospice United voted 99% in favor of ratifying their first union contract!

Hospice United workers voted to form their union last June and have been hard at work bargaining their first contract ever since. UVM Hospice is split into the McClure Miller Respite house in Colchester and the community team, who care for hospice patients in their homes. Through the bargaining process, union members have learned to appreciate and respect the work of the entire team even more and built relationships and solidarity across the unit.

Their contract incudes:

• A transparent wage scale, with average 17% increases over 2.5 years.
• New preceptor and per diem differentials, and increased differentials across the board
• Weekend work protections for family services.
• A staffing committee to create guidelines at the Respite House to be created within 90 days
• Just cause and job security protections 
• Duration: Expires 3/31/28, which is within a month of the CVHU Support Staff expiration and would allow the member to join the call for a general strike on May Day 2028 if necessary. 
• Election Procedure Agreement: establishes protections for the rest of UVM Home Health should they choose to organize

And MORE! Read the full TA summary here

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital threatened with second strike
Brattleboro Reformer, by Bob Audette
February 12th, 2026 

BHU workers, who won their union last spring, began bargaining their first contract in May.

"Since then, negotiations have been repeatedly delayed, bargaining sessions cancelled, and key questions left unanswered," states the news release. "At a Jan. 28 bargaining session, management proposed a three-year wage freeze, along with cuts to healthcare and retirement benefits, reductions to night and weekend differentials, and cuts to earned time."

NEWS: Sanders, Welch, Balint Secure More than $100 Million for Vermont in Federal Funding Bills 
Press Release from the Office of Sen. Bernie Sanders
February 6th, 2026

“This agreement also includes the largest increase in mandatory funding for community health centers in a decade: which is, I might add, $1.2 billion more than the Republicans originally put on the table. This funding will support the 11 Community Health Centers across our state that provide high-quality primary care to one out of every three Vermonters — over 200,000 people across 93 sites,”

Vermont bill would repeal retirement mandate for professors
WCAX, by Mona Abou
February 12th, 2026

VTSU to welcome discussions over campus building lease plans following student concerns
WCAX, by Lucy Caile
February 11th, 2026 

UAW: Ford worker who heckled Trump kept job, 'no discipline' on record
The Detroit News, by Grant Schwab
February 9th, 2026

Vermont State Police arrest protesters at ICE surveillance facility in Williston
Vermont Public, by Liam Elder-Connors
February 10th, 2026 

In the Vermont Statehouse, Committee Chairs Wield Tremendous Power
SevenDays, by Hannah Bassett
February 10th, 2026