Ellen Schwartz, of the Healthcare is Human Right campaign, explains that once again, MVP Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield are attempting to raise health insurance rates for people with Vermont Health Connect plans. BCBS is proposing an average annual increase of 8.2%, with per-plan increases ranging up to 10.9%, while MVP Healthcare is proposing an average annual increase of 8.8%, with per-plan increases ranging up to 13.5%.
Dr. Leslie Matthews, Vermont State Employees Association Legislative Committee Chair, and state employee retiree Tony Smith discuss the State Employees Agenda for Good Government . VSEA members have overwhelmingly endorsed an ambitious legislative agenda for the upcoming 2014 session.
Brittany Nevins of the Vermont Workers Center and Ben Johnson, President of the Vermont AFL-CIO discuss the Put People First movement's huge legislative kick off and agenda.This is what democracy looks like!
Sarah Launderville, director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living & Darya Marchenkova of the Vermont Workers Center discuss the Put People First Movement's unified agenda. A unified, diverse, and growing movement of organizations called Put People First believes Vermont can and must protect and fulfill the human rights of all its people, while ensuring a healthy and livable environment.
Mark Dudzic, co-author of Labor Party Time? Not Yet discusses the substantial organizing initiative in the mid-1990s by a group of progressive unions and labor activists to build a labor party - making an important contribution to understanding our history and guiding our future efforts at independent political action. "We would be hard-pressed to identify a period of U.S. history where the need for a labor-based political party was greater than it is now.