Want to Tax the Rich? Help get it on the ballot this Saturday, Sept. 19th in Winooski at 1pm.

Labor champion and candidate for State Rep. in Winooski, Matt Gile’s campaign is holding a joint canvass with the Tax the Rich to Fund Vermont coalition. They will be collecting signatures to have an advisory article included on Winooski’s Town Meeting Day ballot in support of taxing the rich!

The coalition will provide a training, and then folks will head out to knock on some doors and collect signatures! Everyone will then regroup at 3:30pm for a canvass debrief and pizza.

RSVP to attend using this link.


Join the Vermont AFL-CIO on for canvasses and phonebanks to talk to fellow union members about Proposition 3 – a proposed amendment to the Vermont constitution that would add the right to join a union and collectively bargain to Vermont’s constitution.  

• Brattleboro Canvass (9/19): https://mobilize.us/s/JJgmIc
• Rutland Canvass (9/26): https://mobilize.us/s/7s7QlQ
• 9/22 Phone Bank (Montpelier/virtual): https://mobilize.us/s/g1Vh5I

VFNHP & SSU held a press conference this Wednesday in response to the announcement that the Health Network would lay off ~200 workers across the network. Members stood with impacted colleagues, community allies, and candidates for office, including candidate for Governor Amanda Janoo.

Context on this fight: It's been one month since the contracts for 3,300 Support Staff and Techs at UVM Medical Center expired. When unions entered bargaining back in April, healthcare workers identified safe staffing as their number one priority for negotiations, above wages or improvements to benefits. Instead of taking workers' lead, the Health Network decided this week to eliminate these positions, including the closure of an entire General Medicine floor at the hospital. 

No healthcare workers want to strike, but especially after months of sounding the alarm on staffing reductions and changes in policies, members are getting serious about that possibility. A majority of members have indicated their willingness to strike -- but it is an enormous financial lift, especially for the hospitals' lowest paid workers.

Support the Strike Fund: Unions have launched a community strike fund, which would be available for members experiencing financial hardship. If healthcare workers are able to reach a reasonable contract without a strike then those funds would be available to other local striking workers from any industry.We're stronger together, and it's going to take all of us fighting for a healthy Vermont we can afford.

Donate to support the community strike fund here!

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