Freelancers urged to boycott Transcon mags over refusal to budge on master contract
[This post has been updated] Transcontinental Media has apparently dug its heels in over its proposed master contract, refusing to negotiate with representatives of the freelance community, who as a result are now calling for an "unprecedented" boycott of the company.
A press release has been issued that gives detailed background on the dispute and details the organizations that are supporting the boycott.
Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group, an agency for writers, and David Johnston, executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) had been involved over the summer in discussions with senior executives at Transcon. But on September 1, Pierre Marcoux, the Transcontinental Media’s senior vice president of the business and consumer solutions group said the company did not intend to make any changes to the contract.
In a memo to CWG writers, republished on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW), Finkle says:
[Update: Prolific Montreal-based freelancer Craig Silverman says on his blog:
A press release has been issued that gives detailed background on the dispute and details the organizations that are supporting the boycott.
Derek Finkle of the Canadian Writers Group, an agency for writers, and David Johnston, executive director of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) had been involved over the summer in discussions with senior executives at Transcon. But on September 1, Pierre Marcoux, the Transcontinental Media’s senior vice president of the business and consumer solutions group said the company did not intend to make any changes to the contract.
In a memo to CWG writers, republished on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW), Finkle says:
"At the conclusion of our first meeting on July 16, they said they would be amenable to making changes. When changes didn't seem to be forthcoming after that, they finally announced at the beginning of this month that they were sticking with the contract as it was unveiled in June.The boycott is part of a wider campaign that includes lobbying the ministers of industry and heritage in Ottawa, launching a national petition, lobbying Transcon editors to intercede with their management on the issue, and undertaking a broad communications campaign, including letting advertisers know of Transcon's "heavy-handed attitude towards an important part of the cultural sector".
"As a result, just about every Canadian writers' organization - agencies, associations, unions, alliances, and federations – have banded together in calling on writers across the country to stop writing for Transcontinental publications...."
"Taking action against contracts such as this is incredibly important right now. Showing that writers are united will also help when it comes to the evolution of contracts being used by other publishers. I can't stress how important I believe this effort is to the future of freelancing."
[Update: Prolific Montreal-based freelancer Craig Silverman says on his blog:
This has been a long time coming in Canada, if you ask me. Large publishers have been rolling out contracts that are nothing more than unconscionable rights grabs, and now one company has simply gone too far.]Related posts:
- Transcontinental Media said to be prepared to modify controversial freelance contract
- Transcontinental being pressed by industry reps to change proposed freelance contract
- Freelancers dismayed by Transcon's new "take it or leave it" freelance contract
Labels: Canadian Writers Group, freelancers, PWAC, Transcontinental
posted by D. B. Scott at
2:31 pm
3 Comments:
Okay, since I'm first, call me Anonymous #1:
This is being raised on the TFEW listserv, but I think that some Transcon regulars may feel too vulnerable there to chime in.
IMO, the course Derek Finkle and PWAC are embarking upon is futile, except in one respect: that Transcon is the recipient of an awful lot of federal government largesse, courtesy of the Canadian taxpayer via the Cdn Mag Fund. This money is supposed to go toward editorial, if I'm not mistaken. (And DB, please feel free to add your comments.)
Targeting Transcon's access to this fund is the only hammer we have. They honestly could care less about losing writers; it's a temporary inconvenience for them, and new, untested writers will be chomping at the bit to fill your shoes as soon as you can say "bread line."
As for trying to persuade Transcon editors to pressure their higher ups? Good luck with that. Don't be so naive. Even if they are on our side -- and it's likely many editors are -- they have already been heard from, and their concerns "duly noted." I.e., ignored.
A PR campaign will be equally useless. No-one who buys magazines (except writers) knows or cares about the issue, or even who publishes what they read.
Go after their money. Go after them through the CMF. It's the only avenue that we have. Unless Michael O'Reilly and the strangely quiet CFU can actually get the CEP to make things truly hellish for Transcon (now that would really be something to get behind), it is the only ammunition we've got.
I hope this will spark some creative debate that can exist beyond the TFEW group -- which is, as you all know, also read by Transcon editors.
My view is that this could all have been avoided by a simple willingness on the part of Transcon's senior management to listen and negotiate. Presenting the "take it or leave it" contract, then refusing to listen to reasonable arguments may have been a misreading of just how fed up freelancers are.
Anon #1 again:
Absolutely, it could have been avoided. But they don't care. They're prepared for the fallout from freelancers, DB. What they're not prepared for is if the fallout hits their bottom line hard -- and the fact that their mags receive over $1 million from the CMF annually (rough count) to sustain/promote editorial is, once again, the only place where they're truly vulnerable to pressure.
That, I believe, is where we should expend our energy.
Anyone else?
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