We're strictly about the money, says freelance union

There's been a bit of grumbling of late about the time it is taking for the Canadian Freelancer's Union to get airborne. A comment by freelancer David Hayes on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list about the example provided by the National Writers's Union in the U.S. prompted CFU President Michael OReilly to respond that the NWU was a pre-existing writer's organization which affiliated itself with a trade union (the United Auto Workers)to get financial support for an action against the New York Times.

The main difference...is that the CFU is starting off as a labour union. We are not trying to meld the sometimes disparate interests of a professional association with a labour union. The CFU is cleanly focused on the money. The existing groups (like EAC, TWUC, PWAC, CAPIC, etc.) are there to handle the other stuff.

Formation of the Canadian Freelance Union was announced in August 2005 and a couple of information sessions have been held since. It's reported that about 400 people have signed up. See earlier posts.

The CFU Toronto chapter is holding another information session on Wednesday June 20 at 7 p.m. at the Southern Ontario Newspaper Guild Offices 1253 Queen St. East at Leslie St. Guest speaker will be Jonathan Ahee of the CEP NABET 700 Toronto Film Local who will talk about how unionization works in Toronto's movie industry.