Our union’s ability to successfully negotiate a strong collective bargaining agreement depends upon our union’s strength and power. Strength and power derive from a solid foundation of organizing union members and community stakeholders, which increases activism, engagement, and solidarity. 

By creating vital new roles and delegating responsibilities, our union can position itself to build capacity and develop enough power to win demands. It also enables us to identify new activists and leaders to continue to build on our successes for the future along with a stronger and more sustainable democratic movement.  

The primary purpose of a CAT structure is to be able to easily reach all members with effective, one-on-one communication. In order to accomplish this, our CAT aims to have one CAT member per ~20 residents & fellow (1:20), and at least one from every department/specialty. The high ratio of CAT members to residents & fellows makes the tasks manageable and creates an opportunity for more people to get involved and become empowered. It also enables a rapid response so that information can be quickly distributed and collected.

Our CAT should be composed of members who are respected within their department/specialty and are interested in being active in the contract campaign. It is also important that the CAT is diverse and representative of the union membership.

Our CAT is more than just a group that explains issues and informs the membership about activities. It creates two-way communication from the membership to our union governance and the bargaining committee. This two-way communication allows our members to fully participate in determining key issues, developing ideas, and suggesting activities for the campaign. Being involved in the process will also lead to more active participation by our membership.  

The CAT structure becomes the eyes, ears, and voice of our union. The two-way communication can: 

• provide bargaining updates 

• solicit feedback and ideas 

• explain the campaign plan 

• recruit co-workers to join actions 

• maintain contact list 

• track who participates 

• identify problems and concerns 

• dispel rumors 

• track employer activity 

• reassure and inoculate fearful members 

• share information with the governance and bargaining team 

Beyond the contract campaign, building our CAT and involving our membership will create a stronger and more active union to deal with future issues and contracts.