Contract negotiators discuss proposals and CATs

As part of their last bargaining meeting of the year, Negotiations Committee members began discussions about contract proposals. “There are lots of proposal ideas and we discussed issues like leave accruals, leave usage like bereavement and definition of family,” Negotiations Committee Co-Chair Kristin Kirchoff-Franklin said. She said they’ll be releasing a platform soon.

Negotiators are working on building their Contract Action Teams (CAT). A CAT is a group of members working together to amplify the work of the Negotiations Committee and union during the contract negotiations process which is going on now.

In previous bargaining cycles various CATs worked on specific issues or contract language that was important to them, helped mobilize co-workers to attend actions, supported the contract through social media or contacting their legislator, facilitated listening sessions and much more.

“Being a CAT member is one of the best actions you can take this contract campaign. You can contact your negotiations representative to get involved and learn more about what the contract team is,” Kirchoff-Franklin said.

“We need to have a strong CAT structure to be successful in bargaining,” she added.

Next month negotiators will continue developing a platform and writing contract proposals.