MONTPELIER – A Plainfield therapeutic, private school that bills itself as a compassionate institution dedicated to “community” crushed a unionization effort by its woefully underpaid staff and fired the teachers leading the ultimately unsuccessful vote in retaliation, according to an unfair labor practice charge filed recently with the National Labor Relations Board.
Connected Circles – whose mission is “to connect as a community where all are seen, nurtured, and encouraged to embrace life-long learning” – encouraged staff to attend “voluntary” anti-union meetings, employed a notorious former labor leader who now works against unions, and, after the drive was unsuccessful, laid off two of the teachers leading the effort.
“Prior to the election being held, on several occasions, the employer held staff meetings encouraging the staff not to vote in support of the union – that doing so would go against the core values of the school,” the charge – filed by Vermont-NEA – said.
In April of 2026, employees of the private facility asked school management to voluntarily recognize the union after nearly 80 percent of the staff signed cards supporting the union.
“We thought that by forming a union, we could have more of a say about our working conditions, which are also our students' learning conditions,” said union leader Acorn Swiggum, who lost their job as the school’s culinary arts teacher shortly after the failed vote. “The work was incredibly rewarding, and I thought a union would make the school better for educators, better for administrators, and, most importantly, better for our students. Instead of supporting employees in making whatever decision felt right to us, the administration did everything they could to crush the effort.”
Prior to the vote, school leadership threatened to rescind flexible scheduling already awarded to employees and coerced them to attend meetings, with management, where they were told that the union “goes against our values,” the charge said. At those meetings, employees were encouraged to vote “no.”
In addition to the meetings with school leaders, employees were encouraged to attend presentations from a consultant the school hired, Ben Johnson, a one-time leader of one of Vermont’s largest unions who now earns his living helping management beat back organizing efforts. Johnson broke with labor several years ago, saying “I’ve had enough” of collective action.
“Instead of living their values, administrators repeatedly told us how bad a union would be,” said Meredith Bump, another union leader who was also fired after the vote. Bump, who taught art, said between the school’s leaders and Johnson, she and her fellow educators were inundated with anti-union propaganda. “It was clear to us that they had no desire to work with us to make our school even better.”
She and her colleagues “love our work,” she said. With a union, she said that they would have fought for better pay, better working and teaching conditions, and for due process rights. “As it stands now, we can be let go for practically any reason,” she said.
Salaries at Connected Circles are about $20,000 less than the average teacher salary in Vermont.
The unfair labor practice charge has been filed, and the NLRB has requested some additional information as part of its investigation into the school’s alleged violation of the law. Eventually, an investigation and hearing date will be scheduled, although when that will happen is uncertain. It is generally against labor law for employers to threaten loss of benefits, hold captive meetings, actively urge a “no” vote, or retaliate against union activists.
Vermont-NEA, the state’s largest union that already represents more than 13,000 educators in public and private schools, assisted the unionization effort.
