Some property tax reform ideas are better than others, but working-class Burlingtonians have little reason to get excited about any of them.

Who’s worth voting for in the Champlain Valley on Aug. 13?

I’ve heard from hundreds of Vermonters who say charter schools and the further privatization of public education are just plain wrong.

How should socialists in Burlington and Winooski vote on March 5?

Why Burlington’s next election needs to be about housing, not policing; and how socialists should approach housing development under capitalism.

The membership of the Champlain Valley Democratic Socialists of America votes on the chapter’s endorsements. You can see three candidates’ responses to our questionnaire here. But since we didn’t endorse a candidate in every race, our electoral working group put together this guide to offer some unofficial recommendations and guidance on harm-reduction voting to help fill up the rest of your ballot if you’re so inclined. (Several candidates running for the Democratic nomination are members of the Vermont Progressive Party, whose own ballot does not feature any competitive races.)

Vermont’s AFL-CIO just endorsed the full slate of the Vermont Progressive Party’s city council candidates.

Looking for an in-depth analysis of current events in Vermont and nationally, from a Left and Labor perspective? Check out Equal Time Radio with DSA member Traven Leyshon. Equal Time began as a progressive initiative driven by State Senator Anthony Pollina back in 2007…

The Champlain Valley DSA is excited to announce the endorsement of an excellent slate of candidates for the 2020 elections…

Here in Vermont, we have a responsibility to demonstrate at the ICE and DHS offices in Williston. They help Trump carry out repression in our state and across the country. Community Voices for Immigrant Rights already staged an emergency action in Burlington and will soon announce plans for a protest in Williston.

Last week, Burlington acting Chief of Police, Jon Murad, was allowed to address a 1,000-person Black Lives Matter rally in Burlington. Faced with pressure from hundreds of residents at public hearings demanding the City defund the police and remove 30% of cops from the street, Murad gave a skillful, liberal defense of expansive policing and the large budgets this requires. The affect of this was not exactly clear (he wasn’t booed off the stage), but the message did conflict with popular chants to abolish the police later on the march.

Our nation is experiencing collective trauma right now. Trauma happens when what we individually assume to be true about the world or ourselves is challenged, making it hard to cope and impossible to go back to how things were before. We will all be changed forever by this pandemic. That is trauma.

We are thankful to the essential workers serving in the military, especially for your hard work in building surge facilities and distributing food around the nation. Although workers appreciate the sentiment behind the display of the military jets by the United States Air Force, we do not believe this is the best way to thank us. Every flight is a massive financial expense, with the price of up to $44,000 per flight. The cost doesn’t stop there. There are health care impacts associated with these jets including excessive noise, a huge carbon footprint, and other environmental damage.

Food Not Bombs is a nationwide collective of activists that unite to share food with their communities. Sam Bliss and Emma Schoenberg are active members of the Burlington FNB.

After endless messages thanking us for our hard work and dedication during these challenging times, last week the administration at the University of Vermont announced budget cut plans that show nothing but callous disrespect for the lives and work of faculty.

The CVDSA Covid-19 Response Working Group interviewed Scarlett Moore, a barista at Starbucks in downtown Burlington, about how the store is responding to the pandemic and what workers are doing.

The working class of Vermont has scored an initial victory against a tidal wave of austerity measures that Governor Phil Scott is threatening. But no one should be under any illusions that the state colleges are safe; the Governor made clear that he wants the legislature to pass a budget with devastating cuts to our public institutions.

We interviewed Meaghan Diffenderfer, a member of UE Local 203 at City Market. We discussed the role the Union had to play in advocating for safety practices, hazard pay, and the shifting balance of power at work.