MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont lawmakers heard public opinion Tuesday night on a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine the right to form a union in the state.
Proposal 3 would ensure that current labor rights for Vermonters could not be dissolved by future political action and that workers in the Green Mountain State have the right to choose whether or not to form a union.
The Senate already passed Proposal 3 with a tri-partisan vote of 29-0-1. It’s now in the house.
“Without unions, Vermont will end up in a race to the bottom like many right-to-work states are. We hope that this will come out of committee unanimously, as it did in the Senate, because this is, union or non-union, this is about workers in general, and we set the standards,” said one community member.
A constitutional amendment is a high bar to achieve. Two separate legislatures have to vote on the bill, and Vermont voters would also have to give it the greenlight.