Supporters urge House committee to send Proposal 3 — for constitutional collective bargaining rights — to voters

Supporters of Proposal 3 told the House Committee on General and Housing that lawmakers should place a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing collective bargaining rights on the 2026 general election ballot.

At a public hearing, 13 witnesses described how union representation has affected wages, workplace safety and relations between employees and management and urged the committee to advance the measure to voters.

The amendment “would enshrine in our state constitution the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain and prevent any future legislative action to roll back the hard won protections that workers currently enjoy in the state of Vermont,” Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney Stanek told the committee. “Burlington is a union town. We have over 20 different unions representing municipal workers, our higher education institutions, public schools, the hospital, our designated agency, our transit system, and more.”

Witnesses described a range of workplace settings and offered examples of how…