• Bargaining and Grievance Committee (BGC): Group of 11 elected graduate workers who represent the needs and demands of all members when writing our contract proposals and meeting with members of MIT administration to negotiate our contract. 

• Contract Action Team (CAT):  a group of grad workers who volunteer to help keep the general membership informed throughout the bargaining process, mobilize their coworkers to take action to put pressure on the MIT administration around our bargaining priorities.

• Tentative Agreement (TA): a written agreement between the employer and BGC that must be voted on by MIT GSU-UE Local 256 members before it becomes a legally binding contract.

• Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)/Contract: a written agreement between the employer and the employees, that is voted upon and ratified by all MIT GSU-UE Local 256 members, that details the terms and benefits of employment in a clear and legally-binding way.

• MIT GSU-UE Local 256: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Student Union, Local 256 of United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America.

What is the CAT? 

The CAT is the Contract Action Team made up of graduate workers across campus. It takes all of us graduate students working together to win a contract we deserve. In every department, lab, cohort, building, and teaching team, grad students need to come together to: 

1. Shape our bargaining priorities 

2. Take action to improve our workplace rights 

In order to build the mass, supermajority participation we need, grad students across MIT are joining the CAT to make sure their coworkers stay informed and ready to win a strong contract! 

What do CAT members do?

Members of the Contract Action Team are committing to:

• Visibly participate: wear union gear, attend important collective actions, and be a visible union supporter.

• Keep others informed: talk to coworkers about bargaining, share 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 the MIT administration 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, and invite them to join the CAT.

Do I need prior organizing experience to be an effective CAT member?

No! While any prior experience is welcome, all CAT members will be trained and mentored on how to organize our coworkers by existing union stewards!

How do I join the CAT? 

Any grad student can get started on the CAT after signing up here and receiving a short training and onboarding. All stewards are automatically CAT members. You should encourage coworkers to join the CAT who care about improving our working conditions at MIT. The more members of the CAT that we have, the better chances are that we win our collectively decided bargaining priorities.

What’s the time commitment of the CAT?

The most important task of a CAT member is keeping co-workers informed about and bringing them into the contract fight, and that can take however much time you’re able to give. There will also be department-specific CAT meetings (1 hour, weekly), and the occasional All-Hands CAT meeting (1 hour, monthly). Attendance at these meetings is encouraged where possible.

What is bargaining?

Bargaining is the process by which we will negotiate to secure protections in the form of a collective bargaining agreement (contract), centering around the priorities collectively set by the bargaining survey and ongoing communication with the broader membership.

The Bargaining and Grievance Committee (BGC) consists of 11 elected graduate workers who represent the needs and demands of all the departments in the process of negotiating our contract.

Who takes part in bargaining?

Our union and the MIT administration each have a bargaining team who research, assemble, plan, and make decisions about bargaining documents and agendas. Our bargaining team is composed of elected union officers, who will be the liaisons between the MIT administration’s negotiators and rank-and-file workers on each campus; however, it’s important that bargaining remains democratic and that workers give their input on the bargaining process. 

Workers will have opportunities before bargaining begins to take part in the decisions about what will be in our next contract through our bargaining survey, the Contract Action Team (CAT), and by voting to ratify the initial bargaining proposals that come out of that process. During bargaining, updates will be frequently sent to membership in the effort of full transparency. Once the bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement with the MIT administration, our union’s membership will vote on whether to ratify the tentative agreement into our new contract.

However, the bargaining process does not just take place at the bargaining table. If we want to win our collectively decided bargaining priorities, it is important for our union to have mass, supermajority participation in the process. With this said, we can all take part in bargaining by filling out the bargaining survey, ratifying our contract proposals, attending pickets and rallies in support of our demands, and talking to our coworkers and bringing them into the contract campaign. The best way to get involved in the contract campaign is to join the Contract Action Team (CAT)!

What is the bargaining process?

The bargaining process is divided into the following steps:

1. Bargaining survey: We have distributed a survey among all graduate workers, asking workers the issues they most care about. Based on the survey results, the BGC will determine our collective priorities for bargaining.

2. Proposal drafting: The BGC will write up an initial draft of our contract proposals, based on 1) the results from the bargaining survey, 2) contract content from other institutions, and 3) standard legal language from labor relations.

3. Proposal feedback and ratification: After finishing the initial draft of contract proposals, the BGC will provide a summary of each article to all graduate workers.  Before the bargaining sessions start, all graduate workers are invited to provide feedback on the proposal summary. The BGC is interested to know what proposals graduate workers are feeling most excited about, as well as answering people’s questions about the proposals. The proposals will then be ratified by the membership.

4. Negotiation with MIT administration: Our BGC will present our ratified proposals to MIT’s administration. The administration will respond point by point on whether a specific proposal is accepted, rejected, or amended. The administration will also put forth their own proposals. Our BGC will consider the MIT administration’s response, and discuss each item during a caucus to make our own set of acceptances, rejections, amendments. These steps will go back and forth until our BGC reaches a tentative agreement with the MIT admin. After each session, our CAT provides updates to the membership about the bargaining process. 

   
   All graduate workers are strongly encouraged to be engaged throughout the negotiation process. For example, graduate workers can continue to participate and take action around the issues that we care about by sharing testimonials or joining the CAT.

5. Ratification: The tentative agreement agreed to by both the BGC and the MIT administration will be put to a vote among the union membership. The proposal will be put into effect once a majority of the members vote yes on the contract. If the tentative agreement is voted down, we will collectively decide how to put enough pressure on the MIT admin to get them to improve the offer.

How can members get involved in the contract fight?

The best way for graduate workers to get involved in the contract campaign is by joining the Contract Action Team (CAT)! CAT members visibly participate in the contract campaign, keep their coworkers informed about what’s going on in bargaining, mobilize their coworkers to take action throughout the campaign, and help to identify others who can play the same role.

When does bargaining start? How long will it last?

Bargaining will begin in Spring 2026! After bargaining begins, the process will continue for as long as it takes to reach a tentative agreement with the MIT administration. Once a tentative agreement is reached, the agreement will be sent to all members for ratification and, if approved, bargaining will end and we’ll have a new contract. Our current contract expires on May 31st, 2026, though both parties can mutually decide to extend the contract expiration date.

Will we go on strike?

Strikes are a powerful tool to resolve differences and reach an agreement if necessary, but if the MIT administration bargains in good faith and we are able to reach an agreement, a strike may not be needed. Members must authorize the BGC to call a strike through a strike authorization vote (SAV), achieving a majority “yes” vote before a strike can be called.

How do we decide our priorities in bargaining?

It’s important that bargaining priorities come from the issues that matter most to all workers, not just the bargaining team members. Already-existing issue campaigns are often adopted as contract proposals, and thousands of members will participate in the bargaining survey to share their priorities for the next contract. Our contract proposals will be drafted based on the results of the bargaining survey, and the proposals will be ratified by membership before being brought to the bargaining table.

Workers particularly interested in the bargaining process should join the Contract Action Team (CAT), which will be essential to keeping workers informed during the contract campaign. 

Once a tentative agreement is reached between the bargaining team and the MIT administration, members will eventually vote to ratify the contract.