Unionization!
Out of context: Reply #19
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- adamfinger0
Rand (and a few others)...
You don't REALLY work for yourself. Your income is dependent upon your expenditure of mental energy on clients, not your own projects. That you might chose your clients doesn't alter this relationship. It just changes the appearance and makes its a bit more convoluted. Your clients hire you to make them more money. You may work hard and you may be incredibly talented, but your clients answer first and foremost to profits. This is the core of the market. This means that, in staying competitive, they will cut costs wherever possible -- that of their designers included. There will always be more designers (and workers in general) than there are bosses, studio-heads and clients.
Our competing with one another doesn't serve our interests. It can only bring down our incomes, our benefits, and our leisure-time. Getting by in this industry, especially for freelancers, means working harder and harder to bring home a paycheck. How is it rational for designers to buy into this? We could be working drastically shorter days, thus giving us more time to work on our own projects, to be creative on our own terms.
Simply looking for a new job, even one outside the industry, is no guarantee that things will improve. Many of these problems are experienced in all sectors. Moreover, the idea of "personal advancement" as a solvent flies in the face of collective action, which has thus far been the only tool to bring about serious change. As those responsible for doing the work, we shouldn't simply cross our fingers and hope there are "generous" bosses out there willing to compensate us "fairly."
Also, don't confuse a college degree, a professional title, or so-called "self-employment" as reasons not to unionize. There are unions for teachers, freelance writers, professors, office workers, IT professionals, health care workers, actors, film workers, etc. Many animators in Hollywood enjoy unions and for a long time, so did commercial artists.