Montpelier, VT – Today Vermont Senate Democrats and various union organizations rallied
together to advocate for the passage of Proposition 3, a proposal with tripartisan support that seeks to amend the Vermont Constitution to establish the right for citizens to collectively bargain. PR3 passed the Senate floor today with a 29-0 vote: it required a simple majority vote from the Senate, and must be followed by a simple majority vote in the House. If approved in both chambers and later ratified by voters in the 2026 general election, Proposition 3 will be added to the Vermont Constitution. The purpose of PR3 is to ensure workers have the right to join a union and negotiate wages, hours, and workplace conditions with their employer, safeguarding their economic welfare and safety. Additionally, it would prohibit laws that interfere with employees’ rights to collectively bargain. PR3 unanimously passed out of the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee on a 5-0 straw poll vote yesterday, March 18.
Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale, the Senate Majority Leader said, “I’m proud to stand here with
tripartisan support for this measure, especially as we witness growing efforts across the country in legislatures, courts and executive actions that threaten the choices of working people. Some may question why we need this amendment in Vermont – but history has shown us that no state is immune: workers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri and New Hampshire never imagined their right to organize and collectively bargain would be under attack.”
Senator Alison Clarkson, Chair of Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, quoted a 2021 Report from the Institute of Economic Policy, “Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy. Data suggests that unions give workers a voice in shaping their communities: where workers have this power, states have more equitable economic structures, social structures, and democracies.”
Senator Randy Brock, Vice Chair of SEDHGA said, “My grandfather was a proud iron worker
and union member in the late 1930s until he passed in the 1960s. I used to attend union meetings with him as a child. As a Black man living in the South during the Great Depression, my grandfather and his family wouldn’t have had job security or dignity with retirement without his union job. I have the utmost respect for workers having the rights and exercising their rights to organize.”
Larry Moquin, Regional Organizer with the Laborers' International Union of North America in
New England and President of the Vermont AFL-CIO said, “On behalf of the Vermont
AFL-CIO, I would like to thank the entire Vermont Senate for voting in solidarity with workers
today. The true nonpartisanship shown by the leaders of Vermont gives me hope for the entire country in this time of turmoil and daily attacks workers have been facing.”
Aimee Bertrand, President of Vermont State Employees Association and Vice President of
AFL-CIO said, “At a time when workers are under attack daily from the federal administration, this amendment ensures that workers in Vermont will forever have the option to join a union and bargain for their wages, working conditions, and benefits. We know that when workers are at the table and have a voice with management, workplaces are safer, employees are more productive, and the economy works better for more people.”
Don Tinney, a high school English teacher who serves as President of Vermont-NEA, the state’s largest union, said, “At a time when unions and workers are under direct attack from a hostile federal administration, it’s imperative for Vermont lawmakers to enshrine the right to organize and make it part of our state constitution. We know that when workers form a union, they are better paid, better protected, and have better working conditions. For our own union, those better working conditions mean better learning conditions for Vermont’s students. Washington may be out to destroy protections for middle-class Americans, but in Vermont, we know better. My fellow 13,000 members and I strongly support placing Proposition 3 on the ballot to protect Vermont’s workers.”
Contact:
Erin Stoetzner
Senate Caucus Director
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