David Van Deusen

Kornheiser: a focus on collective interests of working families


The writer, a former Brattleboro area resident, is president emeritus of the Vermont AFL-CIO.


MORETOWN-It is without hesitation that I personally endorse Emilie Kornheiser for state representative for Brattleboro.

As the recent past president of the Vermont AFL-CIO, I rarely back Democrats or Republicans. Too often, politicians from these parties fail to fight for the interests of working-class people.

Read More

A fleeting social safety net got us through a pandemic

Paid sick leave, paid family medical leave, increased unemployment benefits, and other emergency measures let us get through COVID-19. If we can make this happen during a state of emergency, we can do so every day, for everyone, everywhere.

With over 80 percent of Vermonters having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 72 percent of us fully vaccinated, Gov. Phil Scott declared on June 15 an end to the State of Emergency and the termination of pandemic related social restrictions. It is significant...

Read More

Trump is anti-union and anti-worker. He needs to be removed.

From a labor point of view, we do not need to look at Trump's seedy and illegal dealings with the Ukraine or Russia to understand this New York City billionaire as unfit for office. No, union members need look no further than his right-wing, union-busting appointments to the Supreme...

Read More

More

Demonstration against GOP fundraiser, Walker was pro-union to the core

On May 31, more than 500 union members and allies picketed the GOP fundraiser in Burlington which featured extremist union-buster Scott Walker and Vermont Republican Governor Phil Scott. The picket was organized by AFSCME-VT, IBEW Local 300, the Vermont Building and Construction Trade Council, and dozens of other unions and pro-labor community/political organizations. Labor appreciates the support received from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who reached out to supporters the previous day to express his backing of the picket and to...

Read More

Kornheiser stands with Brattleboro's working families

I am pleased to offer my personal endorsement of Emilie Kornheiser for state representative. I have known Emilie for 20 years and always recognized her as being on our side. Emilie stands with us working people on the issues we care about. Emilie shares our values and will be a strong advocate for working families.She supports a $15-per-hour livable wage, paid family medical leave, and universal health care as a human right. She is also a strong advocate for organized...

Read More

The leftist case against gun control in Vermont

Every day, I am honored to call rural Vermont my home. Our rugged mountains and vast forests are home to some 600,000 hardy Vermonters. Politically, we are the most leftist state in the nation; all of our children have universal health care, our minimum wage is $10.50 an hour (with a serious movement toward achieving a $15-an-hour livable wage), our unemployment rate is 2.8 percent. We practice a form of direct democracy at the local level (Town Meeting) whereby every...

Read More

No fortunate son

Fellow working Vermonters: I am a former district vice president and member-at-large of the Vermont AFL-CIO (UAW Local 1981). As such, I know there is only one candidate for lieutenant governor who has the backs of working-class Vermonters: State Senator David Zuckerman. Dave has walked picket lines with me. He, like Bernie Sanders, has fought like hell (against the Democratic and Republican establishment) for livable wages, health care for all, and for the rights of workers, union and non-union alike.

Read More