Health care activists in Vermont are urging people to attend a rally at the statehouse in Montpelier on January 6. They are organizing carpools from Brattleboro. On May 1, 2009, more than 1,000 people attended a “Healthcare is a Human Right” rally at the Vermont statehouse. Organized by the Vermont Workers Center, it was the biggest ever weekday rally at the statehouse, according to organizers. Photos are at:

www.valleypost.org/2009/05/01/1000-vermont-rally-healthcare-right

The Vermont legislature meets annually from early January until April or May. The 2010 session starts January 5.

The Vermont health care activists say the reforms likely to soon be enacted by Congress will be inadequate. They are holding another rally at the statehouse in Montpelier at noon on January 6, and urging people to attend a January 12 legislative public hearing about a bill that would enact single-payer universal health care in Vermont.

The United States is the world’s only wealthy nation that does not provide universal health care. Citizens of Europe, Canada, Japan, and other nations spend far less on health care than Americans, and have a longer average life expectancy.

The January 6 rally will take place in the Cedar Creek Room in the statehouse.

The January 12 hearing is scheduled for 6 - 9 p.m., in a room to be announced at the statehouse.

Activists in Brattleboro are organizing carpools for both events. For more information contact Ellen Schwartz at eschwa1@myfairpoint.net or (802) 257-4436 or go to the Vermont Workers Center web site www.WorkersCenter.org

At that web site, people can sign a petition that will be delivered at the January 6 rally.

The workers’ center is an affiliate of Jobs with Justice, a national group whose web site is www.jwj.org