Prop 3 “Right to Collective Bargaining” and the Plan for a General Strike
By Renee McGuinness
Prop 3, a proposed amendment that would enshrine the right to collective bargaining into the Vermont Constitution would: 1. prohibit the passage of right to work laws, which would coerce employees who are not union members to become members to keep their jobs; and 2. prevent the legislature from passing laws that would interfere with union negotiations. This would provide unchecked bargaining power to some of Vermont’s most powerful unions.
According to Cause IQ, a database of non-profits, there are 120 labor unions in Vermont. The top three unions by revenue are the Vermont National Education Association (VT-NEA), the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Care Professionals, and the Vermont State Employees Association (VSEA).
Imagine the unchecked power of these three unions under Prop 3 “Right to Collectively Bargain” if the majority of people vote in favor of this amendment on the November 2026 ballot and as union contracts come up for negotiation. Education shutdown. Health Care shutdown. State shutdown. And – angry with the Trump Administration for withdrawing funds to institutions that implement Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) – they intend to wield this power.
On October 25, 2025, Winooski High School hosted “The People’s Summit: Organizing Resistance against Trump & the Billionaires”. The Rake Vermont, self-defined as, “pro-worker, anti-capitalist journalists building the first collectively-owned (sic) and -run media group in Vermont to platform the voices of the local working class,” published the summit schedule and registration link on its website. (PDF found here.)
Four of the sixteen workshops offered during the full day summit were about organizing workers, unions, and strikes:
- Organize Everywhere: Building Power at Work and in Communities
- Get Your Union Strike Ready
- Organizing the Unorganized
- Building Rank & File Power in Unions
Three speakers at the People’s Summit spoke about their intent to organize and strike in retaliation against the Federal Administration.
Claire Whitehouse, social science researcher at the Center for Rural Studies at UVM and co-president of UVM Staff United, stated, @5:15:
Anyone who’s studied the history of the 20th century knows that every fascist regime comes for universities as one of their first targets. The lever they’re using in this attack is federal research grants and their bogeymen are DEI and Palestine activism. Their goal is to scare university administrators into doing their dirty work for them. Their dirty work is to shutter DEI programs, to fire workers and expel students who speak on Palestine, and to end trustworthy science that aims to reduce bias, especially on climate change and health equity issues. So, in some ways, this is clarifying, right? Because as unions, what we do is put pressure on our bosses. And because the Trump administration is putting pressure on our bosses from one direction, it’s on us to put pressure from the other.
Erin Carter, Vice President of VT-NEA, stated @18:20:
My union routinely goes to court and the labor board whenever our rights are violated. We’ve sued employers, agencies, and even governments to ensure that our rights are upheld and respected. My union regularly organizes around our shared interests and with others and professionals who work on behalf of our school districts, towns, state, and the nation. And when our contracts are up and when management treats us with contempt and defiance, we are among the only unions in the state to routinely say ‘enough’ and hit the picket lines, as we’ve done since 1978. Since then, my fellow NEA members have gone on strike 27 times including myself in 2005. As a union, it should be very clear that we don’t back down from a fight. And as Americans and as Vermonters, we won’t back down from this fight.
Andy Blanchette, President of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees)1674, opened by explaining what a a general strike is, and that it would take place, “ideally, two years or sooner.”
She told attendees that getting to know co-workers well and practicing striking in workplaces are the steppingstones that lead to a general strike.
Blanchett stated @20:56, “I want to be clear, a general strike is what got us the New Deal, right? It got us social security. And those things came from first workers, right? Working-class people organizing whether through official unions or not, right?”
Blanchett continued, “That’s how you build up to a general strike, which is going to be more than just the people in your direct workplace deciding to withhold our labor to get what we need from this administration or any administration, I might add. We should be prepared to do this at any time.”
Are Vermonters prepared for, and welcoming of, the consequences of education, healthcare, and government shutdowns if Prop 3 “Right to Collectively Bargain” is passed by voters in November and unions utilize their unchecked power under Prop 3? Will Vermonters be compelled to give unions whatever they desire in order to keep these essential operations in Vermont? If yes, at what expense to our pocketbooks, lifestyle, and culture?
The event was sponsored by the Winooski Education Association and was endorsed by the following unions and non-profits: AFSCME 1674; AFT 5566 PPNNE; AFT 5754 UVM Staff United; AFT-AAUP 3203 UVM United Academics; Cooperation Vermont; Education Justice Coalition of VT; FreeHer; Green Mountain DSA; Migrant Justice; Party for Socialism and Liberation; Peace and Justice Center; People’s Kitchen; Tempest; Trans+ VT; UAW 2322 (Graduate Students United); UE 203 (City Market); UE 267 (UVM); UVM Progressives; UVM Students for Justice in Palestine; UVM Student Worker’s Union; UVM YDSA; Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation; Vermont School Workers United; Vermont Workers Center / Nonviolent Medicaid Army; VT AFT; VT Labor for Palestine; VT NEA; Winooski Education Association; 50501 VT.
The author is an Addison County resident.