Three years into a massivegrassroots campaign or univer-sal healthcare, Vermonters have won a major victory and have taken a major step toward becom-ing the rst state in the U.S.A tooer healthcare as a public goodinstead o a market commodity.In May, Vermont Governor PeterShumlin signed into law a bill thatextends state-unded healthcarecoverage to all 620,000 Vermontresidents. Working Vermontersacross the state worked endlessly,canvassing their neighborhoods,organizing "people's orums" in their towns, and demonstrating in the streets in ront o the capitalbuilding in Montpelier demandinga healthcare system without para-sitic private insurance companies, where everyone is covered regard-less o employment or immigrationstatus. Vermonters want a health-care system that’s goal is not CEOand shareholder prot, but insteadquality care, regardless o status,occupation, income, etc.The bill passed soundly throughboth the house and senate, but not without a ght. At the last minutea small group o senate democratsamended the bill to exclude undoc-umented workers rom coverage.This amendment passed along with the bill. This attack on whatis already one o the most margin-alized and exploited demograph-ics in the state was completely outo step with the demand or uni- versality, the principle aim o thishealthcare campaign. Vermontersresponded with a beautiul display o solidarity with migrant workers.Over night the state house wasfooded with emails and phonecalls. The next day groups weremobilized at the statehouse by the Vermont Farmworker Solidar-ity Project to demand this amend-ment be removed rom the nalbill. Ater two days o relentlessorganized actions, the amendment was removed rom the nal bill,and several politicians who votedor it had issued public apologies.So, a healthcare reorm bill that proposes a universal single-payer healthcare system has beensigned into law. The struggle hasnot ended. Big business and theprivate insurance industry willcontinue to ght against it, and working Vermonters will have todeend this hard-won victory. Now the struggle that lays ahead must take a broader look at Vermontsociety- beyond healthcare. Thiscampaign has proven the eec- tiveness o mass orga-nizing at the grassrootslevel to ght or and windemands that better ourlives. Using this power, working Vermontersmust make sure thatuniversal healthcare willnot come at a time whenpublic employees areacing wage reductions,lay-os, and increasedpension payments. Thiscampaign has enlivened the spirit o solidarity in Vermont. The wealthy, the small minority that isrich o o the hard work o the rest o us, will bemade to nally pay theirair share.The power o orga-nized working Vermont-ers has set an enor-mous precedent that isspreading through New Englandand across the country. What itsays is that working class people, the poor, and the oppressed do nothave to put up with the mandatesset by the rich and the powerul. We know what is best or our com-munities and workplaces, and wehave the power to undamentally change them. As we see in Ver-mont, organizing and ghting or abetter world is the only way we aregoing to achieve a ree and equalsociety, and we will, one step at a time.
VERMONTERS WIN
Universl Helthcre