STORY about LabourMediapublié le Janvier 4, 2014 by Zyn
The Canadian Freelancer's Union
There IS a Union for Communications/Media Workers
cfunion.ca
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“We're setting the floor on pay and contract rights, for all self-employed communications workers,” says Michael O'Reilly – President of the CFU. “The floor, not the ceiling.”
Mike makes this claim with the 300,000 strong 'Unifor' standing behind him.
Periodical writers, book writers, online writers, journalists, illustrators, photographers, independent film makers, and people in public relations; the 'Freelancer's' Union, the result of a CEP campaign that began issuing memberships in late 2009, is aptly named.
With approximately two hundred and fifty members in its ranks; Michael is the sole staffer of the CFU; he manages the day-to-day affairs of the Union, and calls upon Unifor whenever additional resources are needed – such as with contract disputes. Unionizing people who essentially run their own businesses, often at home and from a computer, is a bit of a novelty in the world of labour; but the reasons for this development are hard to refute.
“I'm a long-time professional writer,” says Mike. “I mostly write for periodicals – magazines – and have done it full-time since about 1990. A writer's income hasn't risen since the 1980s, it hasn't even kept pace with inflation. It wasn't nefariousness that caused this, it was market mechanics. Media got big, we stayed small.”
Mike runs the numbers: the median income for a freelance journalist in the 1980s was $28,000. If it had simply risen with inflation, today it would be $50,000. Yet according to a Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) survey in 2006, the same person today is lucky to make half that. Nearly 40% of professional writers can't reach the poverty line with their craft alone – and that's excluding the casual blogger.
How is this happening in the Age of Information?
Much has been said of the decline of the print industry and its transition to digitized content, it's often cited to explain poor compensation. Certainly the industry has had its challenges, the newest one being Smartphone adoption, with their small screens and thus smaller advertising space; but if the industry has struggled with profitability, its thrown more than the printing press overboard to stay afloat.
'Postmedia' is Canada's two year old media conglomerate, incorporating every major newspaper in the country. It's shuttering print shops, out-sourcing work, swapping portions of pensions for stock options, and aggressively developing online content. The demand is there, but it's being demanded for in the new medium.
Their first (2011) report states unequivocally that employee compensation is the primary cost to roll back – the numerous printers in a world where fewer people read print. Postmedia's second (2012) report highlights debt repayment, the sale of buildings, and rising online subscriptions. But if property is being offloaded and Paperworkers are bearing the cuts, how would any of this effect an article or a photo's worth?
Statistics Canada conducts a (now bi-annual) survey of the Periodical and Publishing industry's revenues and expenses. From 2004 -2011 the industry posted year over year profits averaging ten percent (excluding returns on investments.) Even the crash in 2009 manages a margin of 5.7%.
In 2005, a Periodical would slate almost half (45%) of its revenue for wages and salaries; Freelancers were paid 5% of the sum, despite being one fifth (18%) of the work-force.
In 2011 the numbers shrank even further: 35% is set for compensation, and only 2.5% goes to 'commissions paid to non-employees.' Freelancers.
For photographers, journalists, columnists and the like, it's a far cry from the 1970s. Where a freelancer only relinquished specific rights if asked, such as 'first-print,' and was compensated for subsequent re-use. Or 'kill-fees,' a mechanism that ensured contributers were paid 50% of a cancelled assignment's original payout.
And so the story goes: pay stagnated in the 1980s, prior to the internet's widespread adoption. Contract rights were reduced in the mid-nineties, prior to news outlets exploding online. And the push for free content ('citizen journalism') emerged before smartphones could take a bite out of online reading. Every step of the way, the downward trend for freelancers has occurred before changes in technology could legitimize it; busting the industry's myth of cause and effect.
Mike says he didn't hold much interest in unions until the mid-nineties, when publishers began demanding full copyright. He was a member of PWAC and sat as president there for some time, when he began talking with the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union. CEP's newly formed CFU was struggling to develop, and Mike saw a chance to tackle the economic end of freelancing that had been flagging and deteriorating for some time.
“Our short-term plan,” Mike explains, “is to bring immediate value to membership. Right now you get immediate legal support on contracts, and if your [journalist] credentials check out, National and International Press passes.” That's all for $125 annually. “You also gain access to inexpensive and valuable benefits plans.”
The CFU grants its members access to Unifor's packaged dental, vision, medication and travel insurance plans, which range from $70-$120/month. The packages cover about 90% of medication costs, $1,000 per annum on uninsured medical expenses such as psychologists or visits to the dentist, and up to one million in liability on travel. There are group packages to cover family members as well.
Contract support is increasingly the most popular service: both analysis of contracts and handling legal disputes. “Increasingly, its around non-payment. The publisher or 'engager' takes the work, then simply refuses to pay, at which point the CFU goes in and fights the legal battle.”
“Our long term objective is building collective strength to improve our conditions. Currently we've had success on a local level; we organize the freelancers that work for a particular publication then negotiate improvements to the contracts. That's how we take on fights, generating critical mass around specific engagements. We've done the same before with nation-wide media institutions. Sometimes the paper will look for other freelancers, sometimes not; it depends on the existing relationships and their ethics. That's where the long-term comes in : to get a large enough membership that they can't turn to someone else. To set floors – not ceilings – on rights and pay.”
“We're not an ordinary union,” Mike continues, “We're not telling our members how to run their business or define their craft. If they can get higher pay, all the power to them. The qualification for membership is paying your dues.”
Michael explains that Unifor sees the CFU as a potential model for organizing non-unionized workers and the unemployed; similarities are drawn in that freelancers typically don't have a 'worker' or union mentality, are difficult to track down or maintain contact with, are highly exploited, and initially reluctant to organize. “Though whenever we find each other,” he says, “the result is almost always a new member.”
Mike describes the relationship between Unifor and the CFU as 'largely independent', referring to the larger organization as an umbrella for the unions under it. The chances are low that your town's Local will have even heard of the CFU. “We're an online organization – virtual – which parallels are membership. We're a kind of 'national local,' though right now we're looking to set up national committees with our members.”
And voting?
“There's the collective national organization that is Unifor, with elected regional representation; and Unifors presidents – including myself – who are also elected by membership. CFU's annual meeting of members happens via webcast, our next one is this November where I'll get my marching orders.”
Visit : canadianfreelanceunion.ca for more information.
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