Take Action

 Collective bargaining is a collective effort! If you are a Vermont public school employee with a VEHI health plan, the outcome of these negotiations will impact how much you pay for health insurance. Here are steps that you can take now to support your union negotiators:

Join a virtual public hearing.

When we bargain over health care, it’s always in the context of our broken health care system in Vermont and the U.S. Even when we’re successful in negotiations, sharply rising health care costs continue to drive annual insurance rate increases. Comprehensive reform is necessary to address these structural issues with our for-profit health care system.

Join us on Wednesday, October 13, 6-7:30 p.m., for a virtual public hearing to address members of the Legislative Task Force on Affordable, Accessible Health Care. Our current political moment presents us with a unique opportunity to make meaningful, structural change to our broken health care system. Your testimony and your stories can help make that possible. Please register in advance here.

Stay informed.

Follow updates from your statewide health care bargaining (SWHCB) team and familiarize yourself with the process and timeline.

• You can read the latest update on the Fact Finder’s Report and side-by-side comparisons of the two sides’ proposals here.

• You can learn more about the SWHCB process and timeline here. 

Talk to your colleagues.

Share bargaining updates with your colleagues. Ask them if they’re familiar with the process and the issues being bargained over. Knowledge is power and the more knowledgeable our members are about what’s at stake, the more power we have to achieve our goal of affordable, accessible health care for all Vermont public school employees and their families.

Share your health care story.

The Vermont School Boards' Association (VSBA) argues that Vermont's public-school employees "have a sweet health care deal" with "rich" benefits. They are actively fighting to make health care less affordable and less accessible for thousands of teachers, school support staff and their families at a time when the state of Vermont and local school districts are awash in federal stimulus dollars. We know that many public-school employees in Vermont struggle to afford the essential care that they and their loved ones need. 

If you are a Vermont public school employee who receives health care through your school district and have experienced difficulty accessing care due to cost - including prescription drugs and medical procedures - or if you have experienced medical debt as a result of accessing care, we want to hear from you. Tell us your story here.

Volunteer as a local Health Care Liaison.

Local health care liaisons act as vital points of contact between state-level organizing and the local association. Liaisons are responsible for disseminating important information regarding health care bargaining to members in their locals and organizing their colleagues to support union bargaining efforts. The expectation is that liaisons will devote 3-4 hours per month to the role and attend 1 hour-long meeting per month. If you are interested in serving as a health care liaison for your local, please contact Vermont-NEA organizer Joe Moore at jmoore@vtnea.org.