On September 25th, delegates from Vermont’s AFL-CIO State Labor Council elected Ben Johnson as President. Ben is a librarian at Vermont Technical College, a member of the Vermont State Colleges Faculty Federation, AFT local 3180 and head of United Professions AFT Vermont. At 36 he is the youngest AFL-CIO state president. In a time of unprecedented attacks on the middle class, working people, and unions, new Vermont AFL-CIO President Ben Johnson called on members of all unions to keep organizing. “The only way for us to move forward is organize a mass grassroots movement to change what’s politically possible.” Among the priorities for the Vermont AFL-CIO are creating green union jobs, expanding collective bargaining rights for 10,000 childcare providers, making Green Mountain Care work for everyone and ensuring that the Legislature and Administration authorize sufficient post-Irene recovery spending for rebuilding of our public services, public infrastructure, and public jobs without taking services away from the most vulnerable Vermonters. The convention body passed a resolution urging state leaders to respond to the Irene crisis by rebuilding using local workers at union scale wages and benefits, without diverting funds from other public services. This can be done by raising new revenue, bonding, and using money from the appropriately named rainy day fund. President Ben Johnson added, “We look forward to working with a progressive Administration and Legislature on an agenda that puts people first.” President Ben Johnson further added, “The highlight of the convention for me was when Senate President pro tem John Campbell presented Wisconsin AFL-CIO President Emeritus David Newby with the senate resolution supporting bargaining rights for Wisconsin workers. It’s inspiring to live in a state where our elected leaders understand that we can meet the economic crisis by empowering working people and expanding union membership, not by stripping working people of their voice and denying them the right to form a union.” Other Executive Council members elected at the annual convention were Executive Vice President George Lovell of AFSCME Joint Council 93; Secretary/Treasurer Traven Leyshon of OPEIU local 153; and Member-at-Large David Van Deusen of UAW local 1981.