2025 CONTRACT ACTION TEAM

What is the Contract Action Team (CAT)?

It takes all 36,000 Academic Student Employees (ASEs) working together to win a contract we deserve. In every department, lab, cohort, building, and teaching team, ASEs need to come together to shape our bargaining priorities and take action to improve our workplace rights. In order to build the mass, supermajority participation we need, ASEs across the UC system are joining the Contract Action Team (CAT) to make sure their coworkers stay informed and ready to win a strong contract.

What Do CATs Do?

Members of the Contract Action Team are committing to:

  • Publicly participate: attend bargaining sessions, wear union gear, and be a visible union supporter.

  • Keep others informed: talk to coworkers about bargaining, relay updates from our Bargaining Committee, answer questions, and address concerns

  • Mobilize coworkers: make sure colleagues know the stakes of this contract fight, are participating in shaping and ratifying bargaining priorities, and are standing together to put pressure on UC through rallies and other direct actions, — up to and including a strike if justified and necessary

  • Expand the CAT: identify coworkers who can do all of the above in their own lab, cohort, floor, teaching team, or other group of workers

How Do I Join the CAT (or Nominate Somebody Else)?

Anyone can nominate themself or a coworker to the CAT, and anyone nominated gets started on joining the CAT with a short training and onboarding. You should nominate a coworker who is respected by their colleagues or is the go-to person for questions about our union and contracts.