Former VT Gov Howard Dean: Why I’m voting 'yes' on Proposal 3

This piece originally ran in the Times Arugs/Rutland Herald.

"During my 12 years as Governor of Vermont, I spent a lot of time sitting across the negotiating table from state employee unions. Let’s be honest: we didn’t always see eye to eye. Negotiations could get incredibly tough. There were days I was convinced they were dead wrong, and I’m sure they felt the exact same way about me. But even in our most heated disagreements, it never once crossed my mind to strip away their seat at the table.

That is exactly why I’m voting yes on Proposal 3 — the Workers’ Rights Amendment — this November.

Proposal 3 does something simple but vital: It embeds a fundamental right directly into the Vermont Constitution. It ensures that workers have the right to organize, join a union, and bargain collectively for fair wages, safe working conditions, and reasonable hours.

This isn’t some radical, out-there idea. It’s basic common sense. On their own, a single employee rarely stands on equal footing with a powerful employer. Collective bargaining levels the playing field, allowing people to stand together and negotiate as equals. It doesn’t mean workers magically get everything on their wish list. It doesn’t strip management of their power to run things. It just ensures that both sides actually show up and talk.

That principle is woven into the very fabric of Vermont. We’ve always believed that regular people should have a real, meaningful say in the decisions that shape their lives. It’s what I love most about our state. You see it in our town meetings and our citizen legislature. Collective bargaining comes from that exact same spirit: If a decision affects your life, you deserve a voice in making it.

We also have a deep history of organized labor. Over a century ago, the granite workers in Barre built one of the most heavily unionized communities in the country. They fought — and sometimes went on strike—to escape brutal working conditions and the devastating health hazards of the stone sheds and quarries. Those battles weren’t easy, and they weren’t always peaceful, but they dragged working conditions into the modern era.

Back in 1938, a Republican Governor named George Aiken did something historic. He broke tradition and refused to send the National Guard to crush a granite workers’ strike. Instead, he stepped in and helped both sides find a compromise. The lesson he left behind still rings true today: When workers and employers clash, you don’t silence one side. You bring them both to the table.

There’s a massive practical reason to pass Proposal 3 right now, too. Laws change. Political winds shift. We’ve watched states across the country strip away union protections and weaken collective bargaining. Vermont has always walked a different path, and we need to lock that path in.

Putting this right into our Constitution doesn’t give unions a blank check. It shouldn’t. Future legislatures will still write labor policies, bosses will still manage their workplaces, and management and labor will definitely still argue. Proposal 3 simply protects the foundational right to have the conversation.

Getting this amendment onto your ballot wasn’t easy. Our state constitution is notoriously hard to change. Proposal 3 had to pass the Legislature in two entirely separate sessions just to make it to the voters. But when the final votes came down, the Vermont Senate approved it 29-0. The House passed it 125-15.

You just don’t see numbers like that anymore. Republicans, Democrats, Progressives, and independents all came together to put this before the people. They don’t agree on every single labor issue, but they absolutely agree on this: The right of working people to organize and bargain collectively is worth protecting.

That is the heart of Proposal 3. Vermont is at its best when everyone has a voice. This November, we can make sure working people keep theirs. Please join me in voting yes on Proposal 3."

Howard Dean is a former governor of Vermont.