Report from Ordinance Committee:
Last night, Burlington Livable City Coalition leaders Bekah Mandell and Chris Guros presented the suggested modifications to the lead paint ordinance and our Open Letter supporting the ordinance. The letter had been signed by about fifty supporters, including parents, tenants, union leaders, educators, faith community leaders and health professionals. We also delivered a letter of support for our modifications from the Alliance For Healthy Homes (see attached), a national non-profit organization that specializes in lead paint poisoning prevention. The meeting was long, but we stayed and it was totally worth it.
After hours of deliberation, they voted to pass the ordinance and add our modifications requiring no bare soil at the drip lines and posting a sign to let tenants and neighbors know when work that creates lead hazards is being done. (The new sign will be designed by the Burlington Lead Program and will have skull & crossbones and a big L to signify poisonous lead.) The Committee also passed a resolution to require City staff to explore more fully our suggested modifications for the citywide properties public database on lead paint history, and for requiring dust wipe tests to ensure that children are not exposed to lead dust hazards, and making a Lead Safe standard modeled after the Burlington Lead Program for rental units to have failed lead inspections twice. (The committee specified that the City must come back with the results of their further study on dust wipes by the end of Feb.) The full City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance on on January 5th.
Victory for Tenants, BLCC Coalition:
This was an important first victory for the Healthy Homes Coalition. We completely re-framed the debate, from what usually is a discussion between the City officials and the landlords (and the lines get blurry there, the chair of the Ordinance Committee is a well-known landlord) and brought voice to those--renters and low-income parents--who are usually excluded from the debate. Despite opposition from the Landlord's Association to the City's original proposal, we were able to strengthen the proposal. There is little doubt that if we were not there, what was passed would have been only a somewhat watered-down version of what the City proposed. Together, we have gotten closer to keeping our children as safe and healthy as possible. We are going to keep putting all kinds of pressure on the Council to pass the ordinance and then on the City to both enforce the ordinance as written and get the dust wipes put in, so that we can really start protecting kids.This victory also represents a significant achievement for the Burlington Livable City Coalition as nurses, educators, other union members, and community folks acted in solidarity to support these tenant rights initiatives in the broader struggle for making Burlington a truly livable city for everyone.
Next Steps: Thanks to everyone for your involvement to this point, we need to keep identifying people who care about this issue (you can forward this email to people you think would be interested and have them contact us), everyone should stay tuned about next steps to pass this ordinance at January 5th Council Meeting. Also, please mark your calendars for our next Burlington Livable City Coalition Meeting will be 6pm, January 13 at the VWC.
Victory for Tenants and BLCC on City Lead Ordinance
Join Students, Staff and Faculty to Stop the Cuts at UVM
Lunchtime Forum and Press Conference:
Moratorium on the Budget Cuts and Layoffs, Full Disclosure of UVM's Finances
12-1 pm Wednesday, December 17
Chittenden Room, Davis Center 4th floor, UVM
Sponsored by Students, Staff, and Faculty Together
This week, as President Fogel hands deans their budget-cutting targets, the new coalition Students, Staff, and Faculty Together will hold a lunchtime public forum and press conference to call for
* a moratorium on budget cuts and layoffs
* full disclosure of Vice President Cate's audit and analysis of the university's finances and budget assumptions/priorities
* if cuts must be made, cut from the top
Scheduled for 12 to 1 pm in the Chittenden Room, Davis Center, the press conference will feature speakers from United Staff; UE Local 267, representing UVM's maintenance and service workers; the Student Labor Action Project and Students Against War; plus faculty who support United Academics' call for transparency in budget decisions and stand with students and staff against the administration's announced plans for expanding the student body while imposing a hiring freeze, workload increases, and layoffs.
Human Rights Conference Draws 500 Participants
Burlington - Five hundred people participated in the day-long Ella Baker Human Rights Conference held on Dec 13, 2009. The conference was organized by the Vermont Workers' Center and sponsored by forty-three other organizations.
Excerpts of Closing Remarks - James Haslam, Vermont Workers' Center
First off, I just have to say thank you to all the people who worked with us to make this event happen. We are very excited about the incredible broad-range of groups who came together for this event, many of these groups and individuals we have worked with for years, and many new groups and new faces, who we are just now getting to know and build relationships with.
..when I first started getting outraged by the injustice and suffering that pervades our society, I got really mad and fired up about it, but it took some time before I made the next big step, and I understood that it was not enough to recognize injustice, get mad and complain about it, that it was necessary to make change, become an agent of change. The myth is that the problems are so big that we can't do anything about them. What I have experienced is totally the opposite, that when people get together, there's an enormous impact we can make. We have seen people who have organized for workplace rights and won, very soon start wanting to organize for bigger things, for healthcare as a human right, to end domestic abuse, to end racism. As we learn that together we can take collective action to fight injustice and win improvements in our lives, tremendous amounts of possibilities unfold. At the Workers' Center we have been doing a tremendous amount of organizing with very few resources, and I believe we are only now scratching the surface for what is possible.
The other thing that I have come to learn is that it does start here with our own struggle for justice, our own family, our own neighborhood, our own community, but that we are all connected. Vermont is small, and this planet is actually not that big, the chain of activity that sustains and reproduces is a chain of interdependence. We have realized that we cannot only struggle for livable wages and organizing for rights on the job. The same interests that exploit workers, exploit the planet, make healthcare and anything they possibly can into a commodity to profit from.
So we started asking who benefits from the fact that healthcare is not a human right? Who benefits when workers are divided by race and immigration status? Who benefits from racism and other forms of oppression? It was only a few years ago that after Vermont passed civil unions, and afterwards the right-wing was able to use homophobia to get thousands of working class Vermonters to vote against their own economic interests. Increasingly, those same people will be pitting white Vermonters against undocumented Latino and Latina workers for jobs. We can't let them divide us. Right now public services and public sector jobs are in jeopardy because of budget shortfalls, and people like Governor Douglas will blame unions and public sector workers have it too good and are the problem. Meanwhile we continue to spend $700 million dollars a day on a totally bullshit war in Iraq. That is why we are committed to building a movement for fundamental change, one that is based on human rights, on human needs and ultimately that is based on solidarity.
At the Workers' Center we use that word a lot, solidarity. We have felt that solidarity is at the core of the labor movement, and I think ultimately to build a broad-based movement, solidarity is what it is all about. Solidarity and unity. We have inherited a world which is based on greed and the endless search for profit, and which is based on competition, selfishness and individualism. And right now, we are witnessing that this path is literally threatening the capacity to continue human life on the planet and we are possibly studying our own extinction. The parents we work with at Barnes Elementary School in the Burlington Livable City Coalition recently put up a quote on a mural outside the school that says "Sustainability is another word for Justice". I am motivated in working with you all to build this movement for fundamental change in our community because I believe that is critical for our kids' future. I was also thinking about that word community, we use that a lot too. I thought of what Gandhi once said when he was asked one time about what he thought about Western Civilization, and he said he thought it was a good idea. I think much of that is true about the word "community". Because how can we have a community when people are subjected to live in poverty? How can it be a community when people are divided by racism and homophobia? How can we call it a community when people do not feel safe, when people regularly suffer from domestic abuse and sexual violence? How can we have a community where kids from low-income families are growing up in rental housing that infested with toxic lead paint that creates permanent brain damage? How can we call it a community when healthcare is not a basic right to everyone, but a privilege to some?
That is why it is so important that we have come together for this conference, that we have learned about the broad range of struggles that we face and the justice we need to fight for in order to make our communities live up to that name.
I want to take a few minutes to let everyone know about some Workers' Center campaigns that I hope you can join us in. We've spent a lot of time thinking about how to do our work in a strategic way that facilitates convergence between our struggles and other struggles.
Of course, we must build a movement to guarantee the right of workers to organize, calling for passing the Employee Free Choice Act, and [supporting] the Fletcher Allen Techs [as they organize a union], their struggle like the nurses before them is one which is not only a workers' rights struggle, but their victory will mean safer patient care and a better hospital for the community..
One thing that we ask all of you to do, is join us in the Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign. This campaign is not just about winning a single-payer universal healthcare system, though we believe that that is necessary. This campaign is about a vision of healthcare based not on profits, but on solidarity and community. A vision that encompasses not only the right to see a doctor when you need to, but the right to a comprehensive public health system that ensures that our homes are free of toxins, that we have access to mental health and recovery services when we need them, that victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence are given the support and safety that they need. This campaign is also about building enough power to make the changes that are necessary to realize that vision. The only way to build that power, and to change what is politically possible, is to have an enormous amount of people involved. We are planning on building a statewide network capable of winning and making HC a HR. In building this network, we have called for a major statewide rally on May 1st at 12 noon on the State House steps in Montpelier. We are asking each on of you to sign up today to come to that rally and help bring people with you. We will organize vans, busses, car pools, everything we can to bring as many people there as possible. Together we will have so many people at the State House people will no longer say that change is not politically possible, and we will have built a network of us connected throughout the state that will keep organizing until we have that system in place and we will keep organizing to make sure it works and stays working. We need to build a mass movement for healthcare as a human right, and all human rights for all people.
One of our major projects is to do that in here in Burlington is the Burlington Livable City Coalition, which works to make this community truly livable for all of its residents. For us it started with struggling for livable wages and workers' rights, with the concept that it made sense for for family supporting jobs and quality public services. We are working with the unions to act in solidarity, to support each others' struggles, to have nurses, teachers,UVM Service & Maintenance workers and UVM faculty, Howard Center, City Market workers all who are in difficult contract negotiations this year, to stand together. We are also working with a group of parents, tenants and educators to win real change on how the City addresses the lead paint that is still poisoning children, especially children of working-class parents in the Old North End. Ultimately, this campaign is about building power for the people who don't traditionally hold power in this city -- workers, tenants, people marginalized by race and class -- to win justice in every aspect of our lives; in the motto of the environmental justice movement, "justice where we live, justice where we play, justice where we work."
In our campaigns we talk a lot about building power. The process of how we build that power becomes an end in itself. This is the organizing tradition of Ella Baker, of leadership development, consciousness-raising, and intersectionality of issues and oppressions. The slow, patient, undramatic work of relationship building. Dealing with all the misdirected anger that exists between different parts of the community. This is why we have put a major effort over the past several years into popular education. In January and February we will be holding our third annual Solidarity School, a three-day intensive workshop for emerging labor and community leaders, which covers organizing, tactics and strategy, people's history and movement-building. This past year the Workers' Center also did a series of one-day workshops on Anti-racism & Building A Social Justice Movement. We had one hundred and seventy people participate and it was so successful that we are going to do it again in 2009, most likely in the fall.
A lot of temporary coalitions are put together for limited goals, such as a good contract or a change in public policy. We believe that we all need to be thinking about our coalition and alliance-building terms of how do we use this struggle as part of an overall strategy to build power? How do we begin to re-conceptualize our own work in a way that incorporates the goals of others, making us all stronger? How do we build a movement where we don't just support each other, but we work together strategically towards a shared vision of justice and human rights, one that is based on solidarity and community? We hope this conference has been a useful contribution to that process. So again, please sign the EFCA cards, make plans to join us on May 1st, and, most importantly, we hope everyone continues the dialogues between organizations and movements that we've had today.
Healthcare Campaign to Release Human Rights Day Report
* * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * * *
December 9, 2008
Contact: James Haslam, VT Workers' Center, 802-272-0882, james@workerscenter.org
More info: www.workerscenter.org/healthcare
PRESS CONFERENCE
After Surveying 1,200 Vermonters the Workers' Center Releases A Human Rights Day Report
When: 2:30pm, Wednesday, December 10 (International Human Rights Day)
Where: Vermont Workers' Center, 294 North Winooski Avenue, Burlington, VT
What: On Human Rights Day, the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations in 1948, the Vermont Workers' Center (VWC) will officially issue a comprehensive report entitled: Voices of the Vermont Healthcare Crisis: The Human Right to Healthcare. This report was compiled partly on surveys conducted with over 1,200 Vermonters and human rights hearings held this Fall across the state. The Workers' Center is also organizing a major related event at the University of Vermont's Davis Center; Ella Baker Human Rights Conference where over five hundred participants are expected.
PLEASE NOTE: Media interviews may be able to be scheduled with VWC representatives at other times that day.
Who: The Vermont Workers' Center launched the Healthcare Is A Human Rights campaign in the Spring of 2008.
More info:
www.workerscenter.org - General information on the Vermont Workers' Center
http://www.workerscenter.org/docs/Voices_of_the_Vermont_Healthcare_Crisis.pdf - Healthcare Human Rights Report (1.82 MB PDF file)
www.workerscenter.org/hrconference - On Ella Baker Human Rights Conference and list of guest speakers and workshops
Workshop at December 13 Human Rights Conference
At the Dec 13 Ella Baker Human Rights Conference at the Unviersity of Vermont we will be having a workshop entitled:
The Human Right to Health & Healthcare
Presenters/Facilitators:
Dr. Deb Richter, Vermont Health Care For All
Anja Rudinger, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
Donna Roberts Moody, Winter Center for Indigenous Traditions
Jennifer Henry, RN, President of the Nurses Union at Fletcher Allen Health Care
James Haslam, Vermont Workers' Center
Ashley George, Vermont Global Health Coalition
This interactive workshop will explore what the right to health would mean in our community using examples here and across the globe.
To register for this workshop and the whole exciting Ella Baker Human Rights Conference go to:
www.workerscenter.org/hrconference
REGISTER TODAY: Ella Baker Human Rights Conference
On Saturday, December 13, the Vermont Workers' Center, together with a wide variety of community organizations, is sponsoring the ELLA BAKER HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE. The event will take place from 9am-3pm at the Davis Center at UVM. [ Register now ]
This is a major gathering of workers, students, youth, educators and health professionals to build a broad- based movement for human rights in our communities. This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations, however many of the most basic rights remain unmet in the wealthiest country in the world. Skill-building workshops and activities will explore using a human rights framework to organize together in order to create fundamental change. Issues include: workers' rights, the economic crisis, the right to healthcare, anti-racism & indigenous issues, gender rights, rights of the child, war and militarism, environmental justice and building healthy communities.
The conference takes place on December 13th, the 105th anniversary of the birth of Human Rights activist Ella Baker. Ella Baker was one of the most important leaders in the Civil Rights Movement working as an organizer in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and later in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). With Ella Baker's influence, SNCC became the leading advocate for human rights in the country.
Sixty years after the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, still inspired by Ella Baker's commitment to justice, we are coming together at this conference to build a movement for fundamental change.
This event is accessible for individuals with disabilities. We will make accommodations for people with disabilities (including ASL Interpreters) upon request. Please make your request by Dec 5th by emailing conference@workerscenter.org.
Guest Speakers
US Senator Bernie Sanders
Ai-jen Poo, Domestic Workers United
Ashaki Binta, Black Workers For Justice and former director of the International Worker Justice Campaign
This event is free and lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, or learn more about the conference, please visit workerscenter.org/hrconference.
FILM: "Fundi" The Story of Ella Baker
7pm, Monday, Dec 8
Vermont Workers' Center, 294 North Winsooki Ave, Burlington
Come join us on Monday, December 8th, 7pm, at the Vermont Workers' Center, 294 No Winooski Ave. We will be watching "Fundi." This 48 minute film is about the life and efforts of the great Civil Rights organizer Ella Baker. (full description below)
Come get acquainted with this great leader, in whose memory the Workers' Center has dedicated the upcoming Human Rights Conference, at UVM, on Saturday, December 13th (which is her birthday). Learn more and free registration at http://www.workerscenter.org/hrconference
This movie will kick off a series of gatherings at the Workers' Center; to include skill shares, talks, films, book discussions, music, dance, and food! Stay tuned January's schedule coming soon.
More info call the Workers' Center at 861-2877
FUNDI: THE STORY OF ELLA BAKER reveals the instrumental role that Ella Baker, a friend and advisor to Martin Luther King, played in shaping the American civil rights movement. The dynamic activist was affectionately known as the Fundi, a Swahili word for a person who passes skills from one generation to another.
By looking at the 1960s from the perspective of Baker, the "godmother of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee," FUNDI adds an essential understanding of the U.S. civil rights movement.
First Run/Icarus Films is proud to re-release this landmark civil rights documentary with a new digibeta videomaster that has been digitally restored with enhanced audio and video.
"FUNDI, the powerful film account of Ella Baker's contributions, can enrich us immeasurably, adding depth and texture to our understanding of an important part of our past, inspiring us with examples of lives lived fully and purposefully." -Harvard Educational Review
"FUNDI fills a gap for those who know little of the history of the black struggle [and] is a compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman who has devoted her life to struggle and to the people who take part in it." -Harry Belafonte
"FUNDI does exactly what Ella Baker does: it gives us the courage to act on our own - and to affect the future." -Gloria Steinem
"FUNDI restores Ella Baker, the 'godmother of the SNCC,' to her place in the history of the civil rights movement. Rrecisely and elegantly executed... there's no pomposity, no false reverence - at least none that Baker herself can't cut right through." - Pat Aufderheide, for In These Times
2005 National Women's Studies Association Film Festival; Film of the Year, 1981 London Film Festival; Best of Category, 1981 San Francisco Film Festival; First Prize Winner, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (1981); 1981 CINE Golden Eagle Winner
Making Real Change: It's Up To Us
- Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and be part of the struggle to make human rights a reality for all, at the Ella Baker Human Rights Conference on Saturday, December 13. You can register online (it is a free event, but pre-registration is encouraged). The Conference will feature workshops on healthcare, fighting racism, the economic crisis, the war, gender oppression, LGBTQ rights, immigration, movement-building and numerous other topics.
- Declare 'Healthcare is a Human Right' by getting involved in our statewide Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign. To get involved, email healthcare [at] workerscenter [dot] org or sign up online.
- In Burlington, the Workers' Center is coordinating a Healthy Homes Campaign, organizing tenants to demand safe, healthy and affordable housing. Watch a video about this project. To get involved, email healthyhomes [at] workerscenter [dot] org.
- Volunteer with the Workers' Rights Hotline. The hotline answers questions from Vermonters about their rights at work and is a completely volunteer-driven operation. To get involved, email hotline [at] workerscenter [dot] org.
- Volunteer with the Vermont Workers' Center or stop by during our new office hours. We are at 294 North Winooski Avenue in Burlington (Map) and our office hours are:
9am-noon Monday, Wednesday, Friday
2pm-5pm Tuesday, Thursday - Join our Rapid-Response Email Network.
- Support our work financially by donating or, better yet, becoming a monthly sustainer.
Nov 13: St. Albans Human Rights Hearing
Human Rights Hearing: "Healthcare is a Human Right"
St. Paul's United Methodist Church,
11 Church St., St. Albans
Thursday Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
(refreshments served at 7 p.m.)
"Our current healthcare system simply leaves too many people behind, and this has real consequences for people who suffer immensely as they struggle to pay for healthcare they need, but often cannot afford. At this hearing, members of the community will have a chance to tell some of these stories," said Larry Trombley, social studies teacher at Bellows Free Academy in St. Albans. "Vermonters, and people in our community in particular, really view healthcare as a basic right that we can and should all share with one another."
Similar "Human Rights Forums" have been held in Brattleboro and Burlington and will be held all across the state as the Workers' Center continues its effort to fight for a just healthcare system that values human lives over profit. All are welcome. For more information call Erika Simard at 802-316-7827.
170+ Attend VWC Workshops on Anti-racism & Building A Social Justice Movement
From October 25 - November 2nd the Vermont Workers' Center held seven workshops around the state on Anti-racism & Building A Social Justice Movement with trainers from the Catalyst Project. Participants included high school and college students, teachers, union leaders, state employees, retirees, Americorp volunteers and Vermont non-profit staff. Here's what one participanet sent us:
"I just got back from the Anti-Racist Conference with the Catalyst Project and am so energized! I brought 8 kids and an ELL teacher, all of whom are interested in taking the knowledge they learned today and bringing it back to our school. Barre has not traditionally been kind to people of color, even though they have a history of heavy immigration to the area, including radicals from Italy and France. For most of us, it isn’t fear or not liking those that are not like us that creates the racism, but sometimes a pure lack of knowledge or ignorance. I’ve seen an increase in behaviors from students who are listening to some incredible hate filled attacks on Blacks and other people of color in the media and are not real sure what to do with this information. They are confused. This conference has helped me harness some ideas to help direct these students with the help of our now core group of anti-racists! One student said she learned more about history today than she has in entire classes. Another said her head was spinning she learned so much. There was learning on the part of the adults in the room, as well. Our students brought a perspective that could not have been replaced.
Thanks Worker’s Center for bringing this important Anti-Racism Conference to central Vermont."
- Amy Lester, School Counselor, Spaulding High School and Barre Technical Center
The VWC is holding a major statewide Human Rights Conference on December 13th at the University of Vermont, which will feature workshops on anti-racism. Online registration will begin soon.
WORKSHOP: Anti-racism & Building a Social Justice Movement
WHAT: A series of full day anti-racism workshops for community members. It is a workshop which is meant for anyone actively engaged in efforts for social change (or would like to be). Each of these workshops will explore institutional racism, white privilege, and how people, especially white people, can put this analysis into practice to build powerful, multiracial movements for justice.
WHEN: Full-day trainings will be held 9am - 4pm on:
Saturday, October 25, St. Michaels College (SMC)
Sunday, October 26, University of Vermont (UVM)
Monday, October 27, Aldrich Library, Barre
Thursday, October 30, Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) (New!)
Saturday, November 1, Vermont Workers' Center, Burlington
Sunday, November 2, University of Vermont (UVM)
WHO: These trainings are being coordinated by the Vermont Workers' Center and facilitated by the Catalyst Project, which is based in San Francisco. The Vermont Workers' Center is a movement-building community-based workers' organization based in Burlington. Sponsors of these trainings include: ALANA Community Organization, Burlington Livable City Coalition, Community Service Programs of Student Life (UVM), Dept of Multicultural Student Affairs (SMC), New Directions of Barre, Post Oil Solutions, SMC Peace & Justice Center, Students For Peace & Global Justice (UVM), Student Labor Action Project (UVM), Student Labor Action Movement (SMC) and Vermont Anti-Racism Action Team (VARAT).
The training will be led by long-time anti-racist activists Chris Crass and Ingrid Chapman of the Catalyst Project:
Chris Crass is an organizer and trainer with the Catalyst Project, a center for political education and movement building. He has worked in struggles for economic, racial and gender justice for the past 20 years. His essays on collective liberation politics, anti-authoritarian leadership, feminism, and movement building have been published widely in Left Turn, Clamor and on ZNet and Infoshop.org.
Ingrid Chapman is a working class organizer and trainer with the Catalyst Project. Her roots within social and economic justice organizing began as a leading member of the global justice movement in the late '90s. Ingrid has led Catalyst Project's New Orleans Solidarity Program, working with the Peoples' Hurricane Relief Fund and Common Ground supporting the struggles for the right of return and equitable rebuilding. The last 5 years she has worked with Oakland residents in struggles for tenant rights, community safety and alternatives to incarceration and policing.
REGISTER: Fee is $25 for adults, students/youth are free. Lunch included. Register for any one of the full-day workshops at www.workerscenter.org/register (space is limited)
More Info: Contact James Haslam at 802-272-0882 or james@workerscenter.org
Oct 23 Human Rights Hearing in Burlington
Human Rights Hearing: "Healthcare is a Human Right"
Where: Burlington City Hall, Contois Auditorium (149 Church St., Burlington)
When: Thursday Oct 23 at 7:00 p.m. refreshments, 7:30 p.m. hearing
Burlington - For months volunteers for the Vermont Workers' Center have been surveying Vermonters from all across the state, including many in the Burlington area. The results have been clear: Vermonters believe that healthcare should be a human right.
The state, however, has come up short on this issue. More than 11 percent of all Vermonters are without health insurance, including more than 11,000 children. Thousands more are woefully under-insured, and cannot afford their costly premiums and co-pays, which are only rising as the cost of healthcare soars.
The Vermont Workers' Center is currently undertaking its "Healthcare is a Human Right" campaign to help end this injustice. The goal of the campaign is to spread awareness and build a movement that can help reform the state's system so it will guarantee care to all Vermonters, regardless of income. On Thursday Oct. 23, this discussion is coming
to Burlington at Burlington City Hall, Contois Auditorim. The event begins at 7:00 p.m. (refreshments will be available).
Community faith leaders and healthcare professionals and other community leaders will serve on a Community Listening Panel to hear testimony from residents. Speakers will address the failure of the state's healthcare system, the plight of those who try to navigate through it, and effective ways to bring about change. The event will give members of the Burlington community a chance to share stories highlighting how our flawed system has caused them suffering and
hardship.
"In speaking to Vermonters, we have found that many have suffered greatly, both personally and physically, when they try to navigate through a a healthcare system that leaves so many behind," said James Haslam, the director of the Vermont Workers' Center, which is located at 294 North Winooski Avenue in Burlington. "This event will give members of the Burlington community a chance to make some of these stories heard."
The event will include the following listening panel:
Mayor Bob Kiss, City of Burlington
Rabbi Joshua Chasan, Ohavi Zedek Synagogue
Jennifer Henry, RN Nurses Union President, Fletcher Allen Health Care
Rebecca Haslam, President, Burlington Education Association
Rev. Sarah Flynn, ALL Souls Ministry in Vermont
Roddy Cleary, former minister Unitarian Universalist Church in Burlington
Al Robinson, Imani Health Institute
Ann Goering, MD, Winooski Family Health
Mohamed Abdi, Somali Bantu Association
Hal Colston, Neighbor Keepers
Denise Foote, Barnes Elementary School PTO
Similar "Human Rights Forums" will be held all across the state, including St. Albans (Nov. 13), Lyndon (Nov. 18), Barre (Jan. 29), Rutland (Feb. 12) and Bennington (Feb. 19) as this effort continues to fight for a just healthcare system that Vermonters' health over profit.
More info email erika@workerscenter.org
Presidential debate on healthcare as a right or commodity
From our allies at the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI):
Last night's presidential debate addressed the key issue for health care reform in the United States: do candidates see health care as a right or as a commodity? [ NY Times Coverage ]
"I think it should be a right for every American." This was Senator Obama's answer.
What does this mean for Obama's health care plan? Does the plan really treat health care as a right? As advocates, it is our responsibility to push his campaign to move beyond rhetoric and present a plan that protects the human right to health and health care.
In the debate, the question unfortunately pitted rights against responsibility ("Is health care in America a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?"), neglecting that all rights entail responsibilities. Senator McCain described health care as a personal — not collective — responsibility: "I think it's a responsibility [ ... ] it is certainly my responsibility. It is certainly small-business people and others, and they understand that responsibility".
Both candidates sidestepped the initial question that referred to the use of health care as a commodity: "Senator, selling health care coverage in America as the marketable commodity has become a very profitable industry. Do you believe health care should be treated as a commodity?"
In response, Obama outlined how his plan would help people to "buy insurance", and McCain compared accessing health care to "purchas[ing] other things in America".
These responses reflect the findings of a recent human rights assessment of the presidential nominees’ health care plans. Here’s a summary of that publication:
Senators Obama and McCain have put forward health care reform plans that fail to meet human rights standards, according to an analysis by the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI). This assessment, based on human rights standards for health care reform, finds that both plans rely on market competition to solve the current health care crisis, without addressing how markets could be incentivized to put health protection ahead of the drive for profits.
Despite significant differences in approach, the nominees' plans share a focus on a consumer product — insurance coverage — rather than on actual health care, a public good. Neither plan recognizes the human right to health care — a right guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The assessment develops detailed standards for the implementation of the human right to health care in the United States and suggests basic steps the nominees could take towards meeting those standards.
The publication, "The Human Right to Health Care: Nominees' Plans Lag Behind Public Demands," is available in PDF format at the NESRI website.
Healthcare & Domestic Abuse: Human Rights Hearing Testimony
The following was submitted by a individual we surveyed this summer in Brattleboro. It was read in its entirety at the Human Rights Hearing in Brattleboro.
Sept, 2008
I am a resident of West Brattleboro, Vermont. Earlier this month at Brattleboro's Gallery Walk, I was asked to participate in a survey about health insurance. While I do have health insurance provided through my ex-husband, I felt it was important to share my experiences. I was delighted that at long last, someone was even willing to ask the questions. I am quite certain that my experiences are shared by many in vulnerable situations.
One of the questions on the survey asked if I had ever stayed in an abusive relationship in order to maintain health insurance benefits. Indeed I have. Years ago, while I was still married to my ex, who was an abusive active alcoholic, I made an attempt to leave the relationship. I had two small children at the time: ages 6 and 3. My oldest child had recently been diagnosed with cancer. It was not an easy time to launch into the perils of
single-parenthood as I knew my life was at risk. It never occurred to me that my daughter's life would be on the line not only from the cancer, but from her own vulnerability to the consequences of domestic violence.
As I was preparing to exit the relationship, my husband threatened me that if I left him, he would cancel the health insurance for the family. Once the insurance lapsed, the cancer would have caused my child to be excluded from alternative coverage due to her pre-existing condition of cancer. It was a certain death sentence for my 6 year old child. A risk I was not
willing to take.
At the time, the courts would not have issued an immediate injunction against his canceling the health insurance. Once it was cancelled, my daughter's cancer would have precluded her from coverage through another policy. My ex knew that, had calculated that, and used it in the cruelest way to force me to stay in the relationship.
So I stayed. Of course I stayed. If leaving meant that your child would surely die a very painful death – an entirely unnecessary death, wouldn't you stay? Of course you would. Any responsible parent would. Over the years, the cancer recurred 7 times, each time leaving me entirely unable to exit the relationship. I stayed married to the abuser for 22 years waiting until I had opportunities to ensure my daughter's safety and her health insurance. The moment I was assured that she had insurance of her own, I left my husband.
Oddly enough, he has maintained the health insurance on me for 15 years since our divorce! Why? He is under no obligation to do so. The reason is because he, as the subscriber to the policy, has all the advantages. As the subscriber to the policy, he is able to find out who my physicians are and what treatments or tests I may have had. I can keep my location secret from him, but if I use the health insurance, then he has access to the location of my doctors. It is a short leap to figure out my whereabouts.
HIPPA regulations do little or nothing to prevent this in situations of domestic violence. They leave the onus of responsibility on the insurance companies, who are classically unwilling to pay whatever slight administrative or clerical costs to shield the information from an abuser.
Their comments to me have been that they are not willing to protect victims of domestic violence because it may leave them vulnerable to litigation if they were to "slip up" and not implement a policy. So they are better protected by having no policy of protection to begin with.
I spent 22 years in that abusive relationship and because of this nightmare with the health insurance coverage, I am still "attached" to that man who so willingly imperiled my life and my daughter's life to maintain power and control over me. The health insurance companies, in my opinion, are in collusion with him by their callous unwillingness to consider the
circumstances of abuse.
People ask of battered women all the time: why don't they just leave? Believe me; it is not because leaving has never occurred to us. We contemplate it every moment we can remain alive to do so. We are fully aware of the statistics that say the risk of lethality (being the victim of homicide) rises 70% as a woman prepares to leave an abusive relationship.
If you knew that taking an action, increased your chance of death by 70% would you do it? Victims are well aware of those risks, because they live it and because on average, a victim attempts to leave 6 times before being successful. They don't remain in an abusive relationship because they like it (If she stays, she must like it) or because they are just lazy (victims are acculturated to hyper vigilance because they must assure their own
survival in order to remain alive long enough to raise their children).
There are many, many reasons why a victim stays. But she NEVER stays because
she likes it. Never.
The time has come to provide some relief for victims of domestic violence. If that one hurdle of the health insurance had not been placed in my way, I not only could have gotten my child through her cancer treatments, but she would not have been subject to all those added years of having to witness domestic violence.
I have asked that this testimony be given anonymously. Not because I am ashamed of my past, or even particularly because I still fear him, although I do. I have asked because I have never been able to tell my daughter the real reason we stayed through all the abuse. She certainly has asked because she wants to know why she had to suffer through all those years.
But I could never look her in the eye and tell her that her own father was willing to sacrifice her life for his own selfish purposes. I couldn't tell her that the system has been unwilling to do anything to protect me, or her, or whoever may be suffering the same abuse today.
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If you have or know of any stories like this where the lack of the basic right to healthcare violates our most fundamental human rights please contact us at 802-861-2877 or healthcare[at]workerscenter.org
Healthcare System Put on Trial In Brattleboro
Brattleboro, VT — On the evening of September 25th more than fifty Brattleboro residents came to St. Michaels Episcopal Church to participate in the first Human Rights Hearing on Healhcare. This was the first of a series of hearings to be held throughout the state as part of the Vermont Workers' Center's new Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign. Since last May 1st, volunteers and allies of the Center have been on the streets of most the larger towns and on many job sites asking fellow Vermonters to fill out a survey about their experiences with the healthcare system. Our goal is to have over 1000 of these personal interviews done by December, and we will release a report on our findings on December 10th, which marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations in 1948.
The Brattleboro hearing was co-sponsored by Vermont the Citizens Campaign For Health (VCCH), the ALANA Community Organization and the Brattleboro Union High School student group Child Labor Education and Action. Testimony was heard by a community listening panel chaired by Shela Linton of ALANA and Richard Davis of VCCH, which also included Carol Whitaker, RN, a nurses' union leader at the Brattleboro Retreat; Kathleen Clark, RN, Vice President of the Brattleboro Federation of Nurses at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital; Daniel Herlocker, RN, also a union member at the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital; the Reverend Lise Sparrow, minister at the Guilford Community Church; Rosa Palmeri of Child Labor Education & Action; and Dianne Champion, Brattleboro District Director of the Vermont Department of Health.
The first testimony came from Nancy Hodecker who told of the painful experience of losing her husband to tongue cancer. She said he was uninsured, and ignored the sore because of health costs until it was too late and he had developed class four cancer. Other testimony highlighted the relationship with healthcare to homelessness, racial discrimination in treatment sometimes received in the healthcare system, and a powerful report of a Brattleboro resident who said that she stayed in an abusive relationship for 22 years because her husband threatened to cut her and her children — one of whom had cancer — off from his insurance if she left him.
The event closed by passing around an "I'll Be There" sign-up sheet for the May 1, 2009 Healthcare Is A Human Right Rally at the State House in Montpelier. Almost every single person in attendance signed it. Other hearings are planned in Burlington on October 23rd, St. Albans November 13th and St. Johnsbury November 18th. More hearings are planned in other cities and towns throughout the state.
Main Street not Wall Street! Action October 1st
While attention has focused recently on the Wall Street financial crisis, working families in Vermont and across the country have been facing an economic crisis in recent years, including: unaffordable healthcare, the lack of livable-wage jobs, foreclosures and a general decline in spending power. The Vermont Workers' Center is part of a national labor-community-faith coalition called Jobs With Justice, which is organizing a national day of action on October 1st. Across the country, people will conduct rallies, street theater, bake sales and actions to tell Congress and Wall Street that people are fed up with corporate greed and demand action to address the economic crisis facing working people, not just Wall Street financiers.
Workers' Center members will be giving Vermonters an opportunity to make their voices heard about what priorities Congress should have in dealing with the economic crisis, through a Vermonters Speakout Survey. The Workers' Center will deliver the responses to Vermont's Congressional delegation.
Workers' Center members will be gathering at the corner of Main Street and Church Street in downtown Burlington at noon on Wednesday, October 1st.
More information:
The first bail-out "compromise" failed largely due to overwhelming opposition from working families, because it did not address the needs of Main Street and constituted yet another give-away to the wealthy. Jobs with Justice is telling Congress:
- Make the people that created and profited from the mess pay for the clean-up, now.
- Any infusion of capital must have specific, binding public ownership requirements.
- Restructure and rein in the reckless private financial institutions.
- Pass a real recovery plan, for Main Street as well as Wall Street, paid for with progressive taxation, that addresses the needs for good jobs, affordable housing, health care, pensions, infrastructure and 'green' economy.
"Where is the bail out for the 47 million uninsured Americans without healthcare and the many millions of others facing unaffordable increases in costs for basic healthcare. Isn't that a crisis? Where is the bail out for those communities impacted by plant closings that throw thousands out of work. Isn't that a crisis?," says Dawn Stanger, President of the Vermont Workers' Center - Jobs With Justice. "Why is it only a crisis in our country when it involves Wall Street banks, private equity firms, investment houses and the wealthy that control their shares? And why does Wall Street's crisis suddenly become all of our problem."
Congressmen Welch's statement on why he voted against the bailout
Economist Dean Baker's cut on why the bill was bad
A piece on how to pay for the progressive economic recovery plan we need
Tell Congress: No Wall Street Bail-out! We need you to STEP UP!
Watch Danny Schechter explaining how the bailout will preempt any new administration from following through on promises, then TAKE ACTION!
September 25: Brattleboro Human Rights Hearing
Human Rights Hearing: "Healthcare is a Human Right" to be held at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Brattleboro, Thursday September 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Brattleboro - For months volunteers for the Vermont Workers' Center have been surveying Vermonters from all across the state, including many in the Brattleboro community. The results have been clear: Vermonters believe that healthcare should be a human right.
The state, however, has come up short on this issue. More than 11 percent of all Vermonters are without health insurance, including more than 11,000 children. Thousands more are woefully under-insured, and cannot afford their costly premiums and co-pays, which are only rising as the cost of healthcare soars.
The Vermont Workers' Center is currently undertaking its "Healthcare is a Human Right" campaign to help end this injustice. The goal of the campaign is to spread awareness and build a movement that can help reform the state's system so it will guarantee care to all Vermonters, regardless of income. On Thursday, September 25, this discussion is coming to Brattleboro at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. The event begins at 7:00 p.m. (refreshments will be available).
Community faith leaders and healthcare professionals and other community leaders will serve on a Community Listening Panel to hear testimony from residents. Speakers will address the failure of the state's healthcare system, the plight of those who try to navigate through it, and effective ways to bring about change. The event will give members of the community a chance to share stories highlighting how our flawed system has caused them suffering and hardship.
"We have learned that Vermonters really view healthcare as something that should be a human right — a value that we all share," said Ellen Schwartz, a Brattleboro resident and a volunteer for the Workers' Center. "We are also have found people who have experienced a great deal of suffering because we do not have this right. This hearing will be an opportunity to make some of these stories heard."
Similar "Human Rights Forums" will be held all across the state, in the coming months as the Workers' Center continues its effort to fight for a just healthcare system that values human lives over profit — an attainable goal, given Vermont's passionate and engaged citizenry.
All are welcome. For more information visit workerscenter.org/healthcare, or call Erika Simard at 802-316-7827.
Other sponsors for the events include: Vermont Citizens Campaign For Health (VCCH), ALANA Community Organization and CLEA.
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Northrup Grummon workers win contract in St. Albans!
Statement from the Northrup Grummon workers UE Local 208:
"On Friday Sept. 12th, UE Local 208 ratified its first Union contract. The contract contains a 9% wage increase over three years, an increase in benefits and other protections. The vote to accept the agreement marked the end of the struggle for a first contract over the past few months. UE Local 208 members at USCIS would like to thank the Vermont Workers' Center for all your support. You have been there for us every step of the way from forming our Union to winning our first contract. We know you will continue to support our struggle for justice at USCIS. We look forward to working with and giving our support to the Vermont Workers' Center in the future."
This is a great victory, here's how one of our members, Damon Hall with the Ironworkers Local 7, put it in a letter published by the St. Albans Messenger this week:
Good that you stood up for your rights
9/22/2008
I would like to congratulate all the workers employed by Northrop-Grumman who did not give up the battle for their rights as workers! It can be a long hard road when you are trying to organize and negotiate a contract, especially when faced with a brutal anti-union campaign that scares workers with lies. You all have stood up and shown others here in VT that it can be achieved if you stick together and work as one. With wages going down and fuel skyrocketing the job world out there can be pretty gruesome. Workers that organize can negotiate their wages & benefits instead of being forced to accept what is fed to them. My hat goes off to all of you and I hope others out there realize that you have to work hard and fight for the things you believe in because it is not going to be handed to you. The benefits in end far out way the battles along the way. E PLURIBUS UNUM (out of many, one.)
Damon Hall
Swanton
Vermont AFL-CIO Endorses Campaign
This resolution was approved unanimously September 14th at 2008 Vermont State Labor Council Convention:
REAFFIRM OUR SUPPORT FOR SINGLE PAYER UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
Submitted by: Washington-Orange-Lamoille and Champlain Valley Central Labor Councils & UAW Local 1981
WHEREAS, workers, their families and their unions are waging an increasingly difficult struggle to win or to keep good health care coverage.
WHEREAS, almost every union at every contract deadline must battle and sacrifice merely to sustain health care benefits. The rising costs of health insurance are blocking workers' progress in wages and other areas. All of our unions face a healthcare crisis. But the crisis extends far beyond union members. Nearly 50 million people in the United States are currently without health insurance. More than 75 million went without health coverage for some length of time within the last two years, and millions more have inadequate coverage, or are at risk of losing coverage.
WHEREAS, while we in the United States spend approximately twice as much of our gross domestic product as other developed nations on health care, we remain the only industrialized country without universal coverage. Even though we spend far more per capita, we lag behind our international peers in terms of quality, health attainment, and over-all health system performance. We spend more and get less. Our problem worsens each year as insurance costs increase and gradual solutions have failed to make a dent in the problem.
WHEREAS, the U.S. health system continues to treat health care as a commodity distributed according to the ability to pay, rather than as a social service to be distributed according to human need. Insurance companies and HMOs compete not by increasing quality or lowering costs, but by avoiding covering those whose needs are greatest.
WHEREAS, people of color, immigrants and women are denied care at disproportionate rates, while the elderly and many others must choose between necessities and life sustaining drugs and care. Unorganized workers have either no coverage or inadequate coverage. The Institute of Medicine has found that each year more than 18,000 in the U.S. die because they had no health insurance.
WHEREAS, economic necessity and moral conscience compel us to seek a better way.
WHEREAS, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) (joined by 91 cosponsors, including Rep. Peter Welch) has introduced HR 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act, also called Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. This single-payer health care program proposes an effective mechanism for controlling skyrocketing health costs while covering all Americans. The bill also restores free choice of physicians to patients and provides comprehensive prescription drug coverage to seniors, as well as to younger people.
WHEREAS, HR 676 would cover every person in the U.S. for all necessary medical care including prescription drugs, hospital, surgical, outpatient services, primary and preventive care, emergency services, dental, mental health, home health, physical therapy, rehabilitation (including for substance abuse), vision care, chiropractic and long term care. HR 676 ends deductibles and co-payments. HR 676 would save billions annually by eliminating high overhead and profits of the private health insurance industry and HMOs. The transition to national health insurance would apply the savings from administration and profits to expanded and improved coverage for all.
WHEREAS, a single payer program as provided by HR 676 is the only affordable option for universal, comprehensive coverage.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO reaffirms our September 2006 Convention’s support for HR 676, "Expanded and Improved Medicare for All," a single payer health care program, as currently written.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will work with other Labor Organizations and community groups to build a groundswell of popular support and action for single payer universal health care until we make what is morally right into what is also politically possible.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will send a copy of this resolution to Congressman Conyers and to the AFL-CIO Executive Council.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO will take other actions to mobilize our members and our community at the grassroots, including urging our affiliates to work with the Vermont Workers Center’s Healthcare is a Human Right campaign.
ST. ALBANS RALLY MONDAY
Support UE Local 208 on Monday, September 8th at 2:15 in a rally for a fair Union contract.
Healthcare Is A Human Right
Brattleboro Reformer, Labor Day Weekend Editorial
http://www.reformer.com/localeditorials/ci_10330416
(also ran in Burlington Free Press, Rutland Herald and Bennington Banner)
By Dawn Stanger
Friday, August 29
BURLINGTON — The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, proclaimed, "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one's family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care."
Although these principles were adopted at the urging of the United States, our government has failed to achieve these rights for all of us. Our rights to health and medical care are denied by a private, for-profit health insurance system. We are the wealthiest country in the world. What good is government if it doesn't help us to do together what we can't achieve individually?
Labor Day honors the contributions of our grandparents and great-grandparents who struggled to create a better society for us.
There is a saying, "The Labor Movement: The Folks Who Brought You The Weekend," but united workers struggled for more than just the 40-hour week. The minimum wage, Social Security, the end of child labor, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and more all were the results of their work. We are proud of our ancestors and toast them.
But in the U.S., that list falls short.
For the Vermont Workers' Center, Labor Day 2008 marks a renewal of the struggle to make health care a basic human right, not linked to employment or income. Now, only rich people can afford care from the "cradle to grave." It is a moral imperative that we createAdvertisementa new system that recognizes this basic human right for all of us.
This summer, our folks have been all over the state surveying Vermonters. The question, "Do you believe we have a human right to health care?" is just one being asked as part of our "Health Care is a Human Right" campaign. We aim to change what's politically possible with grassroots organizing among regular Vermonters.
Health care should not be a marketed commodity upon which the few get rich denying care, while the many die, suffer and amass huge debts. The private health insurance system has failed. This is not just a crisis of the "uninsured." It's a crisis the insured as well.
We already knew that 50 percent of all bankruptcies were caused by health care costs, but we didn't yet have personal stories from Vermonters. The survey responses we have collected from hundreds of Vermonters have been real eye-openers. Approximately two-thirds of those surveyed have refrained from getting treatment or drugs because they couldn't afford it.
A majority has kept jobs for fear of losing health insurance. Almost one in five experienced discrimination accessing care. More than one in 10 stayed in abusive relationships for insurance. Now we'd like to learn even more from you.
We collect surveys by knocking on neighbors' doors, and talking at work, community events, and house parties hosted by volunteers (and we can always use more). Next, we'll host "Human Rights Hearings," where community leaders can hear from those most affected: working Vermonters, the unemployed, retirees, the un- and under-insured. The Vermont Workers Center expects to hold hearings in Brattleboro, Burlington, Barre and the Northeast Kingdom in coming months, expanding from there. We hope, for all Vermont's families, that some Labor Day in the years to come we'll celebrate the successful struggle of working families for the basic human right to health care.
Dawn Stanger is president of the Vermont Workers' Center and a Teamster who works for United Parcel Service. For more information about the campaign, to volunteer or take the survey, contact the Vermont Workers' Center at 866-229-0009 or visit www.workerscenter.org/healthcare.
Northrup Grumman workers contribute "ethics" posters to company contest
Northrop Grumman, one of the companies that employs service center workers fighting for a first contract in St. Albans, held an "ethics" themed poster contest. UE Local 208 Northrop Grumman employees created their own submissions to the contest. See more of their posters at justiceatuscis.org . Also, on August 18th Workers' Center members helped lead a community/worker delegation which included State Senator Ginny Lyons and State Rep. Chris Pearson to the regional office of Homeland Security in South Burlington. We went to ask them to tell their DC adminstration the community was concerned and that the workers deserve livable wages. Here is a link to photo and recap»
Healthcare Campaign Off to a Great Start
This summer, volunteers and staff from the Vermont Workers' Center have been asking working Vermonters a simple question — "Do you believe we have a human right to healthcare?"
That question is part of a survey being conducted as the first phase of the Workers' Center's Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign. This campaign aims to change what is "politically possible" in the healthcare debate through grassroots organizing and expanding public understanding of the human rights framework. "Sixty years ago, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the nations of the world — including the U.S. — declared that everyone has a basic human right to medical care and security in the event of sickness or disability," said Dawn Stanger, president of the Workers' Center. "Sadly, that right is not respected in the U.S., the wealthiest country in the world."
So far, the Center has surveyed over four hundred Vermonters, with a goal of reaching well over a thousand this fall. Some of the survey results have been eye-openers. Approximately two-thirds of respondents had refrained from getting health care at some point because they felt they were unable to afford it. A majority have stayed in a job only because of health insurance benefits. Almost one in five have experienced discrimination in trying to access healthcare, and more than one in ten respondents have stayed in an abusive relationship in order not to lose health benefits.
Surveys are being collected door-to-door, in workplaces, at community events and house parties hosted by volunteers. "The effort is really to try to speak to people who haven’t been involved in politics before," said Colin Robinson of the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, which is joining the Workers' Center in the campaign.
The next stage of the campaign will feature Human Rights Hearings in locations around the state in the fall, where community leaders will gather to hear testimony from those most affected by the healthcare crisis: working Vermonters, the unemployed, retirees, the un- and under-insured. The Workers' Center expects to hold hearings in Brattleboro, Burlington, Barre and the Northeast Kingdom in the coming months, expanding to more locations as the campaign continues.
For more information about the campaign, to volunteer or take the survey, contact VWC Healthcare Organizer Erika Simard at 861-2877 (Burlington) or 866-229-0009 (toll-free), or visit workerscenter.org/healthcare
BURLINGTON LABOR DAY CELEBRATION
Monday,
September 1st
PARADE
PICNIC
CONCERT
at BATTERY PARK
PARADE: 10:30am gather at the Waterman Building parking lot, UVM off South Prospect Street, march down Main Street to downtown and end at Battery Park.
FREE PICNIC: with Ben & Jerry's ICE CREAM at Battery Park
GREAT MUSIC: Utah Phillips Tribute Concert to Benefit the Vermont Workers' Center
This fun family event celebrates the contributions of working people in this state and unites Vermonters across workforces in the ongoing struggle to raise the standards in our communities. If your organization is interested in marching in the parade, call Maria at 658-3113 to register with the Labor Day Celebration Committee.
Tribute Concert: The concert is free with suggested donations to go to the Vermont Workers' Center, a working families organization located at 294 North Winooski Avenue. The Vermont Workers' Center has launched the Healthcare Is A Human Right Campaign and helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition.
Utah Phillips (1935 - 2008): the great folksinger, storyteller and labor activist, passed away this May. Utah performed extensively and tirelessly for audiences on two continents singing and collecting the songs of working people and the workers' movement for decades. He made two Grammy nominated albums with Ani Difranco called Fellow Worker and History Didn't Go Anywhere. Local bands and performers will include: John Holland, The Trout River Crew, Andy Lugo (Second Agenda), Electric Halo, Andy Schlatter, Nick Gruswitz, Julie Winn & Jonathan Kissam and many more. More info on concert call James at 861-2877
Canadian Trade Unionists Visit VWC
Last Wednesday, a delegation from the Canadian Labour Congress (shown above, with VWC Healthcare Organizer Erika Simard) visited the Workers' Center. The visit was part of a week-long class called The Changing Face of the Canadian Labour Movement: Unions Responding in Solidarity led by Karl Flecker, National Director of the Congress's Anti-Racism and Human Rights Department. The purpose of the course was to help rank and file trade unionists examine the changing demographics and new issues facing workers today, including water/trade, immigration, globalization, security, and migrant issues.
The Canadians got a chance to speak with Donna Iverson, a Burlington paraeducator and leader of the livable wage victory, and Vermont NEA staff and former director of the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, about the strategies and tactics used in the long struggle for livable wages in the Burlington school district. They also spoke with VWC Healthcare Organizer Erika Simard about the Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign, and, like most international visitors, expressed shock at the inhumane and inefficient and healthcare "system" in the U.S.
VWC Coordinating Committee member Jonathan Kissam gave them a walking tour of the Old North End, discussing the demographics and some of the neighborhood community struggles that the Workers' Center has been involved in, including supporting efforts to keep Lawrence Barnes school open.
St. Albans Messenger Article on Campaign
Health care as a human right?
Written By Michelle Monroe
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
ST. ALBANS CITY — The Vermont Worker’s Center (VWC) has launched a statewide campaign to re-conceptualize health care as a human right and change what is “politically possible,” according to VWC organizer Erika Simard.
VWC is a member-run organization best known for its worker’s rights hotline. This is the first time the organization has run a statewide, grass roots campaign. It was inspired, in part, by the number of calls concerning health care that are received on the hotline, Simard explained.
The initial phase of the campaign, which will culminate in a Sick Day at the state capitol on May 1, 2009, will focus on a survey of Vermonters beliefs about health care and experiences with the current health care system. VWC is also hoping to organize house parties where attendees will have the chance to view a shorter version of the Michael Moore film “Sicko.”
VWC plans to hold hearings on health care as human right, and to compile its survey results and hearing testimony into a written report. The intent, Simard said, is to put “the health care crisis on trial.”
Dozens of Vermonters have already signed on to be part of organizing committees around the state, according to Simard.
Those people will use their natural connections with neighbors, friends, family and co-workers to build a grass roots organization, Simard said.
Janice Santiago, a St. Albans resident who has signed on to help with the campaign, said she will probably start with her neighbors. “I think health care is a vital human need,” Santiago said.
“The effort is really to try to speak to people who haven’t been involved in politics before,” Colin Robinson of the Peace and Justice Center said.
The Peace and Justice Center (PJC) has joined with VWC for this campaign. The Center is currently focused on passing legislation guaranteeing paid sick leave for all Vermonters. According to information provided by the Peace and Justice Center, 66 percent of Vermont’s private employers do not offer paid sick leave, and 135,000 Vermont workers do not have paid sick days.
Traditionally, Robinson explained, PJC has focused its efforts on securing a livable wage. “The livable wage keeps going up because the cost of living keeps going up,” Robinson said. Until rising costs for health care, housing, energy and other necessities can be brought under control, a living wage may not be attainable, according to Robinson.
The campaign is not connected to the upcoming elections, Simard said. “We have a broader view that we’re working on,” she said. “Something needs to change,” Simard said, adding, “The only thing that really makes sense is to make it a human right and build from there.”
“The United States is the only ‘industrialized’ country that doesn’t provide health care as a right to every resident from cradle to grave,” VWC states in campaign literature.
Discussing the financing of health care, VWC points out that in order to cover the costs of providing health care to the uninsured, hospitals and other providers raise the fees charged to private insurers, which in turn raise their fees. “Establishing healthcare as a human right where universal coverage comes from an equitable system of taxes only makes sense. It would establish a system where we all pay what we can afford and everyone is covered,” VWC states.
July 14: Rally to Support Service Center Workers in St. Albans
UPDATE: Over 60 service center workers and supporters from the VWC rallied in St. Albans on July 14, while USCIS workers in California took action as well. More »
UE Local 208 USCIS Vermont Service Center workers need your support at their march and rally on July 14th. They are fighting for a fair first contract by August first and need as much community support as possible to demand that the companies respect this deadline and bargain now. These workers — the vast majority of them women — have waited long enough for decent wage increases and better benefits.
Monday July 14th 2008
2:00pm
Beginning at Tabor Building 75 Lower Weldon St, St. Albans then marching to Taylor Park in the center of town at 2:30pm.
More information about the workers' struggle is available at justiceatuscis.org.
Download a flier for the march and rally here (in PDF format).
Directions to the Tabor building in St. Albans where the rally will begin:
Directions (from I-89): Go straight off exit ramp through the light until you reach S. Main St. Make a right on S. Main St. Make a left onto Lower Weldon St. The address is 75 Lower Weldon St [ Google Map ].
Take One Action for Healthcare Is a Human Right This Summer
The success of this campaign will depend on the efforts of hundreds and thousands of Vermonters — workers, students, retirees and folks on disability — reaching out to their co-workers, friends, neighbors and communities about the campaign. Please consider volunteering to take at least one action for the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign this summer:
workerscenter.org/healthcare/volunteer
Healthcare Campaign Begins
The Workers' Center is pleased to announced that we have hired a new organizer for the Healthcare is a Human Right campaign: Erika Simard, who lost her healthcare benefits three years ago when Specialty Filaments, the factory she worked at for 22 years, closed in 2005.
"Healthcare should not be a commodity and it should not be something that is tied to employment. It needs to be a basic public good, something that as a community we establish everyone has access to," says Simard.
This summer VWC members, volunteers and allies are conducting outreach to thousands of Vermonters in communities across the state, including conducting a Vermont healthcare survey to collect the voices of the healthcare crisis. Supporters, union members and new campaign activists have begun holding healthcare house parties with their friends and neighbors to learn about the campaign. In the Fall, there will be public healthcare human rights hearings with testimony of "healthcare horror stories" and on the right to health. On December 13th, the Workers' Center is holding a Human Rights Conference, in commemoration on the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held at the University of Vermont. In this process, the Workers' Center will be building the statewide action network capable of mobilizing thousands of Vermonters for the May 1st Healthcare is A Human Right Rally at the State House.
"Many Vermont policy makers say they agree that healthcare should be a basic right to all Vermonters and many even say they support single-payer healthcare in theory. But they say it is just not politically possible. So this campaign is to change that," says James Haslam, lead organizer/director of the Vermont Workers' Center. "Our goal is to begin a strategic reframing of healthcare as a basic human right and the healthcare crisis as a human rights emergency. Right now we have a segrated healthcare system, some people have great care and many go without the care they need because of the costs. Right now the insurance companies are focused on how to deny coverage. We need a system that is geared to keep people healthy."
If you are interested in learning more about getting involved, filling out a survey and helping getting more surveys filled out in your community and possibly holding a healthcare house party email erika@workerscenter.org or call Erika at 802-316-7827.
A New Path Towards Social Justice
Traven Leyshon, Workers' Center Coordinating Committee member and President of the Central Vermont Labor Council, interview with Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Fernando Gapasin on their new book, Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path Towards Social Justice. Joined by VT Workers Center Director James Haslam.
Workers' Center Launches Healthcare is Human Right Campaign
At its 10th Anniversery Celebration in the Old Labor Hall, the Vermont Workers' Center officially launched the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign, a new major statewide grassroots organizing campaign to change what is “politically possible” for healthcare in Vermont. The first phase of the campaign will culminate in a statewide Sick Day Rally on Friday, May 1st, 2009 for a Healthcare is a Human Right Rally at the State House.
"Healthcare should not be a commodity and it should not be something that is tied to employment. It needs to be a basic public good, something that as a community we establish everyone has access to," says new Workers' Center organizer Erika Simard, who lost her healthcare benefits three years ago when Specialty Filaments, the factory she worked at fors 22 years closed in 2005.
This summer VWC members, volunteers and allies are conducting outreach to thousands of Vermonters in communities across the state, including conducting a Vermont healthcare survey to collect the voices of the healthcare crisis. Supporters, union members and new campaign activists have begun holding healthcare house parties with their friends and neighbors to learn about the campaign. In the Fall, there will be public healthcare human rights hearings with testimony of "healthcare horror stories" and on the right to health. On December 13th, the Workers' Center is holding a Human Rights Conference, in commemoration on the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights held at the University of Vermont. The goal is that in this process, the Workers' Center will be building the statewide action network capable of mobilizing thousands of Vermonters for the May 1st Healthcare is A Human Right Rally at the State House.
"Many Vermont policy makers say they agree that healthcare should be a basic right to all Vermonters and many even say they support single-payer healthcare in theory. But they say it is just not politically possible. So this campaign is to change that," says James Haslam, lead organizer/director of the Vermont Workers' Center. "Our goal is to begin a strategic reframing of healthcare as a basic human right and the healthcare crisis as a human rights emergency. Right now we have a segrated healthcare system, some people have great care and many go without the care they need because of the costs. Right now the insurance companies are focused on how to deny coverage. We need a system that is geared to keep people healthy."
On May 1st, 2009 there there will be busses, carpools and caravans from all over the state converging on Montpelier. The Workers' Center is asking Vermonters who are sick of the rising costs of healthcare and believe that healthcare should be a human right to mark their calendars and plan to call in sick that day and come to the rally. Small businesses who agree that healthcare should not be tied to employment but available to everyone and financed publicly through fair taxes, are asked to make it a "Healthcare Holiday" and join their employees for the rally in Montpelier. If you are interested in learning more about getting involved, filling aout a survey and helping getting more surveys filled out in your community and possibly holding a healthcare house party email erika@workerscenter.org or call Erika at 802-316-7827. The campaign's blog is www.workerscenter.org/healthcare.
Livable Wage Victory for Burlington Food Service & Custodial Workers
Livable Wage Victory for Burlington Food Service & Custodial Workers:
Burlington, VT – After a three and a half year campaign, Burlington school food service and custodial worker of AFSCME Local 1343 won an agreement that will bring its all of its members up to a livable wage by the end of the contract. This agreement is being celebrated as a ground-breaking victory. This is the second livable wage victory in less then a year, last fall the Burlington para-educators had the first livable wage victory in the Burlington Schools.
“It is incredibly exciting that after such a long struggle all the food service and custodial workers will receive a livable wage. Many of us struggle to make ends meet and work second jobs to get by,” says food service worker Sandy McAuliffe. “This a good step towards ensuring our families can meet their basic needs.”
The campaign for livable wages for Burlington food service and custodial workers has not been without struggle. It took three years of educating school board and community members, as well as organizing faith leaders, elected officials, other union members and hundreds of Burlington residents to show their support.
From the beginning of the campaign for livable wages, it was clear that in addition to being an issue of fighting poverty, it was also about gender wage inequity. This livable wage victory for food service workers finally helps to close the gender wage gap between municipal workers, who are guaranteed a livable wage by ordinance and are mostly men, and food service workers, who are predominately women and make less than a livable wage. “The fact that the food service workers are predominately women and were not guaranteed a livable wage was a clear example of gender wage inequity that is still all too pervasive in our society,” says Colin Robinson, Director of the Peace and Justice Center’s, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign. “It is wonderful that this inequity if finally being corrected within the Burlington school district.”
This livable wage success for food service and custodial workers helps to ensure that Burlington remains truly livable for more of its residents, however this is not the case for everyone. The Burlington Livable City Coalition (BLCC), a group of community organizations and unions that works to ensure Burlington is truly livable for all its residents, came together in part of this struggle. "The City of Burlington has been nationally recognized for being one of the most "Livable Cities In the Country", yet there are still thousands of families living in poverty and thousands of workers still being paid poverty wages. The Burlington School workers victory is a victory for the entire community. You cannot have a livable city without livable wages," says James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers' Center who helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition. "We know our city will be a better city when all the jobs pay real livable wages, when the children of this city are not forced to grow up in poverty, and when people can live in dignity. We thank the many people in this community who supported this fight and have joined the Burlington Livable City Coalition"
The agreement will bring food service and custodial workers up to a livable wage over the next four years. This livable wage victory comes of the heels of a livable wage victory for the Burlington para-educators last fall and is a huge step forward in making sure Burlington remains livable for all its residents.
See Burlington Free Press story "Burlington school workers earn new contracts" May 7, 2008