Canadian Media Guild seeking liftoff for freelance branch

The Canadian Media Guild has, at last, created CMG Freelance, a voluntary freelance
branch (as distinguished from freelancers who work under omnibus contracts such as with the CBC). Accommodating and meeting the priorities of freelancers is something CMG has been pondering for some time. It said in a recent posting on Story Board:

"We’ve concentrated on figuring out how we, as a union, can adapt to the growing self-employed workforce that deals with multiple engagers, and provide practical and effective supports to individuals and groups."

What they've come up with is a voluntary membership of $150 a year, by which all freelance writers, journalists, consultants and self-employed workers in all media, creative, communications, IT and knowledge sectors may be represented and have services provided to them. These services include a dedicated website, educational workshops, a member directory, savings on smart phone plans, credit card and insurance rates and an affordable group health plan. They are working on creating "contracts that mean what they say...and say what they mean". The project has been guided by organizer Datejie Green since last September.

The CMG, which is a local of CWA/SCA Canada, a division of the Communications Workers of America,  represents 6,000 workers in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada (CBC/SRC), The Canadian Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), TVO, TFO, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (aptn), ZoomerMedia, Shaw Media and CKOI Radio Gatineau (Québec). And, now, media freelancers.

"It’s increasingly clear that this type of membership will be a major aspect of the union movement in the future as we seek to also represent workers who do not have permanent ongoing jobs," says the CMG.  "A growing amount of media work is being done independently by freelancers or in workplaces that are too small for a traditional bargaining unit structure.  

There continues to be a Canadian Freelance Union, which is a chapter of the mega-union Unifor (formed last fall by the merger of the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Unions. Originally under the auspices of the CEP, the CFU has long had many of the same organizing goals as the CMG, including representing new groups of workers -- the growing numbers of individuals in media (and other sectors) who work on contract or freelance.

Related posts:

• Canadian Media Guild and Canadian Writers Group align to represent freelancers
• Freelancer reaches settlement with Rogers over posting of peanut allergy story
• Canadian Freelance Union announces Toronto meeting
• Canadian Media Guild slams Citizen's moral rights grab in freelance contracts
• Canadian Freelance Union to hold inaugural meeting October 3
• Canadian Freelance Union: a lamentably long time coming

Canadian Freelance Union announces Toronto meeting

The Canadian Freelance Union is holding a meeting this coming Friday, September 11 at 7 p.m. in Toronto; a sort of preliminary to the formal, inaugural meeting of members next month.

That formal inaugural meeting is scheduled for October 3 and -- to be done virtually, using webcast and online forums -- will be when the charter members elect the union's first national executive and pass the bylaws.

The Toronto pre-meeting on Friday is at 1253 Queen Street East (Southern Ontario Newspaper Guild office and interim president Michael OReilly says

"If you're a Charter Member, would like to become one ($25), or are just curious, this is your chance to hear what we've been doing and what we have planned. I'll be presenting detailed info about the various services we've got in place (contract support/mediation service, benefits packages, access to the new Artist Credit Union, hiring hall), and discussing future plans."

Related posts:

• Canadian Freelance Union to hold inaugural meeting October 3
• Organizing notes from the CFU
• Freelance union holds information meeting
• We're strictly about the money says freelance union

Canadian Freelance Union to hold inaugural meeting October 3

The quiescent Canadian Freelance Union is apparently rumbling to life. In a bulletin to members, interim president Michael OReilly says that the inaugural meeting of members will be held October 3, with a number of physical sites and electronic links for other places. A draft set of bylaws have been put together by members of the interim executive and interested CFU members and will soon be available via the CFU's online web forum for a full discussion and editing.

OReilly says that the new union has a 3-year commitment of funding and support from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.

He also announced that long-suffering charter members, some of whom signed up to show their interest as long as three years ago (the CFU was first announced in August 2005), will receive a discount on the first year of dues. Normal dues will be $125; charter members will pay $100 for the first year.

Among the member benefits detailed in the memo are:

• A contract advice service to help members interpret and understand what they are signing.
• A formal contract support to help members deal with disputes over payment, rights usage or other problems.
• A "Red Flag" service to warn members about unscrupulous engagers.
• A basic benefits plan (details to follow).
• Access to full benefits packages at rates far lower than would normally be possible (leveraging linkages to the CEP)
• A hiring hall which will link members to work, and work to members.
• Use of the CFU bug (following our inaugural meeting).
• The start of efforts to negotiate better freelance contracts from some of the country's largest publishers such as Quebecor, Transcontinental, Canwest, Rogers, etc.
• A web forum (which at the time of writing had not posted the member bulletin

Related posts:

• Canadian Freelance Union: a lamentably long time coming
• Organizing notes from the CFU
• Freelance union getting organized
• Freelance union holds information meeting

Freelance union gets a Facebook page

Perhaps it is a sign that something is going to happen, at long last, on the Canadian Freelance Union front. The CFU now has a Facebook page, administered by Michael OReilly, the CFU president and Jessica Johnston, the editor of This Magazine.

So far 22 "friends" have signed up, though the fledgling organization says it has more than 400 members. The CFU has been collecting preliminary memberships at $25 each and is saying that the long-delayed first annual general meeting will be happening soon. For background, see previous posts.

Freelance union members number 400, says organizer

The Canadian Freelance Union drive may be coming to life, though the sign up so far is about 400, according to the key organizer. That's not much more than the union was claiming in February. During an exchange on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers (TFEW) listserv, Michael OReilly admits that he has been disappointed by the uptake.

My greatest fear in all this is that the market is right; that freelancers really do deserve to make $24,000 per year (on average). The lacklustre response to the CFU membership drive, added to my past 15 years experience of fighting for the rights of writers, lead my to the occasional dark night of the soul where I wonder if "they" are correct. If freelancers are so unwilling to fight for their rights, then perhaps the market really is right.

Ah well, back to the trenches...

OReilly said he hoped to make some announcements soon, including about a benefits package (that is affordable and real), a member advocacy service, a hiring hall, and an inaugural conference. Freelancers can sign up for $25, which is put in escrow pending the official launch.

Here are a series of earlier posts about the CFU.

Canadian Freelance Union: a lamentably long time coming

It was more than two years ago (August 2005) that the first word of the launch of the Canadian Freelance Union was heard about, under the auspices of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the country's largest media union with 25,000 members.

Since then, there have been a series of information meetings and repeated promises that the founding, annual general meeting of the union was imminent. A lot of hope was placed in the idea precisely because of the clout of the parent union. But after all this time, those who anted up their provisional fees may now be wondering if anything is ever going to happen.

In early September, I wrote to Michael OReilly, the president of the union, asking what was happening and he said:

We're still growing, and we're still working on a number of issues to put more meat on the CFU bones. This includes benefits, contract services, and advocacy. We're still trying to get to the negotiating table at any of the major newspaper publishers. All have revised the standard freelance contracts in the past 6 months, making them more onerous and ugly. Just when I think it can't get worse, the next version comes out at proves me wrong.

Yes, the AGM is still on the horizon. I may have more information on that soon -- we're looking for a university partner since we want to make it a real symposium on freelance issues. There are a few possibilities bubbling. I'll let you know as soon as I can, but I am hoping for sooner rather than later.

This union has been simmering for far too long, without coming to a boil.

Quote, unquote: why freelancers need professional help getting rates up

Forcing big media outfits like Rogers & Transcon & CanWest and Torstar to pay more to freelancers seems an impossible task to most writers I know. Of course, writing a densely-researched, skilfully nuanced 3,000 word feature is impossible for most people who aren’t professional journalists. My point is, that’s what professional union people do for a living and if musicians & actors can be unionized so, presumably, can freelancer writers and editors.

-- Well-known Toronto freelancer David Hayes, commenting on why a freelance union might be able to do what individual writers cannot. (It's part of a discussion on the private Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list (TFEW) about the challenges facing freelancers.)

The fledgling Canadian Freelance Union is still signing people up and hopes soon to have its founding annual general meeting, probably at a university where it can be combined with seminars on freelance issues, according to Michael OReilly, the president. In a recent e-mail, he said:

We're still trying to get to the negotiating table at any of the major newspaper publishers. All have revised the standard freelance contracts in the past 6 months, making them more onerous and ugly. Just when I think it can't get worse, the next version comes out that proves me wrong.

Once again into the fray about freelancer's pay

Globe columnist Russell Smith spends a good deal of his time fussing about double-breasted suits and whether or not to take off your hat, but for some reason he's on a magazine toot recently. A column a week ago was about The Idler magazine which is fondly remembered by many, but which foundered because it was so precious it simply couldn't find a large enough audience.

This week (sorry, it's considered so valuable, the Globe makes it available only for a fee), he's essentially counselling that only writers who are fools would do work for magazines because it doesn't pay enough. He didn't have anything constructive to say, but let's take his column as a starting point, or an excuse, to talk again about money for freelance magazine writers.

The payment of freelancers continues to be a bugbear of the business, of course. It's why there is a movement to start a freelancer's union (a movement that is, unfortunately, taking a very long time to get airborne). It's why seasoned freelancers tend to peel off into corporate work where the pay -- if not other rewards -- is better and the working conditions somewhat more lavish. There seems to be an inexhaustible supply of young hopefuls clamouring to get into the business.

In the first post of the 2007 year, we made the case for increasing freelance rates across the board. We calculated -- not altogether tongue-in-cheek -- that the average hourly wage of a freelancer was about $14.26. In another post, we calculated that, based on a Professional Writers Association of Canada survey, the inflation-adjusted annual income of a typical, full-time freelancer was less than $20,000. And we made a statement, which has never been challenged, that an across the board 20% increase in freelance rates, right now, would cost the industry about a 1% increase in its total costs. And the average would still be something less than $1 a word.

The situation won't change until a) publishers and editors see it in their best interests to pay decent money to keep good writers available to them, b) writers get more forthright and aggressive talking about and demanding better money from editors and c) we get more magazines on a solid business footing and with sufficiently large audiences that allows them to raise rates.

First issue of new freelance union newsletter

The Canadian Freelance Union has published the first issue of its newsletter, which you can get here.

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.

Whither the freelance union?

The fledgling Canadian Freelance Union held an information meeting last night in Toronto. We'd be interested if anyone who attended wanted to give their comments on the event and what they think will happen next. (simply click on the Comments) link at the bottom of this message.

Freelancer's union getting organized

The Canadian Freelance Union (CFU), launched with ambitious hopes and minimal fanfare a year and a half ago, has now signed up about 350 people and is hoping to launch a newsletter and hold an inaugural convention this spring or summer. (See earlier posts here and here.) This, according to a note published on the Toronto Freelancers and Editors list from Michael O'Reilly, the president.

Along with the basic logistics of creating some structure for this thing I have also been working hard with a number of members to fight this new Quebecor (Sun Media) freelance contract. We are building a collective response to it, and trying to get Quebecor to the negotiating table. I hope to unveil a campaign (with funding!) so we can fight this thing.

We have also been working on ways to start delivering real services to members. This will include a dispute mechanism to help members deal with contract problems, and a series of benefits options (health, dental, disability).

The CFU has also been working with other groups to create an effective Status of the Artist legislation in Ontario.

Freelance union holds information meeting

The Canadian Freelance Union will be holding an open information session and public discussion in Toronto on March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Northern District Library (near Yonge and Eglinton). All independent contractors in the media, communications and public relations industries are invited. This includes freelance journalists, writers, columnists, photographers, illustrators, web writers, etc. The meeting is sponsored by the Professional Writers Association of Canada, Toronto chapter.

[Note: A similar meeting is being held in Montreal tonight at 7:30 pm at Atwater Library, 1200 Atwater Ave (metro Atwater), Tupper Street entrance. We'd be interested in comments about how both meetings go.]

Nice, you won't have to change the monogram

The official rebranding of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) to the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) comes next May, but the association is rolling it out already and urging its members to use the new name wherever and whenever.

This still doesn't make PWAC a trade union with all that entails, but interestingly it has signed a letter of agreement with the the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) and its new Canadian Freelance Union (CFU) . The two organizations will pursue projects of mutual interest.

Herding Cats

Word (from mastheadonline.com) that the Communications Workers plan to organize on behalf of freelancers. Good luck to them. Not that there have been many examples of successfully corralling such a ragtag bunch of independents.

It should be recalled that the the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) was intended to do just that, from dictating pay scales to providing a contract template that magazine editors were to follow when hiring freelancer writers. However, the organization has morphed into more of a genteel service organization to which most of Canada's best freelancers don't belong (any more than most Canadian magazine editors belong to the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors (CSME)). It seems that people in the business are just not joiners. Fewer than a third of consumer magazines belong to Magazines Canada. Perhaps one-sixth of trade publications belong to the Canadian Business Press (CBP).

The freelancer's trajectory seems to be a)working for nothing or next to it, b) getting some contacts and reputation, c) starting to sell semi-regularly for perhaps $1 a word and d) becoming disillusioned about making so little a year and e) bailing from the business to take a job, which may or may not be related to journalism. Usually PR or some such.

Some time ago I stated the math, which is pretty unforgiving:

A freelance writer in a year writes about 10* pieces of an average 3,500 words, for $1 a word. Total income, $35,000. Income tax (29% on taxable income of about $23,000) is $6,675. Take home pay = $545 a week.

If an experienced trade union can do something to convince Canadian publishers that it is in their best interests to start paying a living word rate to freelancers, I say go to it. If it can get these guys to pull together, it will be a miracle. I'll sell tickets.