Human rights

Toward a People's Budget: Vermont Adopts New Vision for State Spending and Revenue Policies - Huffington Post
May 7, 2012
Almost exactly one year after enacting the United States' first universal health care law, the state of Vermont is once again showing the country that another world really is possible. In the wake of an impressively large and diverse May Day rally for human rights, the state legislature... Keep Reading »
Vermonters Demand Their Human Rights at Huge May Day Rally
May 3, 2012
This May Day, the Vermont Workers' Center brought a range of people's struggles together under the banner of "Put People First." Expanding the focus of the now famous "Healthcare Is a Human Right" rallies, held since 2009 in Vermont's capitol, Montpelier, this year... Keep Reading »
Haslam: Vermont Strong = Putting People First
April 18, 2012
The response to the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene should make us proud to be Vermonters. Thousands of people volunteered and contributed to efforts to get communities back on their feet. The new “I Am Vermont Strong” campaign has tapped into this community pride with the goal of... Keep Reading »
Op-Ed: The People’s Budget Puts Vermonters’ Needs First
April 16, 2012
The Vermont Workers’ Center has proposed a People’s Budget that would fundamentally change the way Vermont approaches budgeting and begins to address the problems of income disparity, poverty and the decline of Vermont’s middle class — all but forgotten this legislative... Keep Reading »
The People’s Budget Bill: In Times of Austerity, a Tool for Rights-Based Change
April 2, 2012
Vermont’s Put People First Campaign is organizing communities for a proactive solution to budget cuts and health care financing reform. Recalling that the real purpose of budget and revenue policies is to meet people’s fundamental needs, the Campaign has developed, in partnership... Keep Reading »
Why Losing the Public Realm to Private Companies Costs Lives – Including the Life of Trayvon Martin
April 2, 2012
Fuelled by a quest for “security,” a growing us-versus-them mentality has gradually eroded people’s rights and put lives on the line. Trayvon Martin was perceived as “the other” – black and presumably poor – as he entered the controlled space of a private... Keep Reading »
Hundreds of Vermonters Testify for People's Budget at State Budget Hearings
February 15, 2012
The Put People First! The People's Budget Campaign of the Vermont Workers' Center mobilized over 150 Vermonters to testify at the state budget hearings held across Vermont on February 12, 2012. In their testimonies, Vermonters described their struggles to meet their fundamental needs... Keep Reading »
Toward a People's Budget Based on Human Rights - Vermont's Campaign to Put People First
January 31, 2012
The Vermont Worker's Center, in partnership with NESRI, proposes a fundamental shift in the way the state is spending and raising public money. We present a proposal for a new approach to budget and revenue policies, a People's Budget framework, which prioritizes people's needs and is... Keep Reading »
Start Putting People First, Right Here
January 4, 2012
The Bennington Banner published an op-ed by James Haslam, director of the Vermont Workers' Center, about the push for human rights-based People's Budget during Vermont's 2012 legislative session, which started yesterday. From the op-ed: "The People’s Budget Campaign is about Putting... Keep Reading »
Front Page Coverage of Vermont's Human Rights Report and People's Budget Petition
January 1, 2012
In their front page preview of Vermont's upcoming legislative session, the Burlington Free Press quoted the recent Human Rights Day report prepared by the Vermont Workers' Center and highlighted the demand of the Put People First campaign for spending and revenue policies that meet every... Keep Reading »