Unionization!
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- adamfinger
I'm looking for other designers, animators, and commercial artists who are discontented with working long hours (usually without overtime pay), with their job insecurity, and poor (if any) benefits packages and who understand that it is only collective action that can bring about fundamental changes in this industry.
As it stands, the concept of a union is, I imagine, foreign to most designers who have for too long held fast to the notion, fostered by business demands, that hard work and talent alone is all we need to get by.
I've written a short, formal appeal outlining these concerns, but I don't know how effective it would be to simply copy-and-paste it into this tiny forum window.
So instead I'm looking for other people who might be interested in creating an outlet with me -- perhaps a website -- where these issues can be addressed seriously and where the idea of unionization can come to the forefront.
If anyone is interested in an undertaking like this, please e-mail me and/or forward this message to others who might be interested. I'd also like to get my appeal out there, so if anyone knows where I can publish it where it might have some impact, please get at me.
I'd really like this to take off.
Thanks.
(no spaces)
- Rand0
this is really taking off!
- brooke0
Adamfinger for president!
- harlequino0
Bloody Bolshevik.
;)
- e_b_c0
I'll design your union logo.
- e_b_c0
;)
- adamfinger0
Snide comments aside, I'm not surprised that unionization isn't taken seriously. Working conditions are rarely (if ever) addressed within the design community. Conversation is immediately directed toward aesthetics. Creative design, it seems, trumps leisure time, trumps financial security, trumps retirement plans.
- e-pill0
adam-
have you contacted the Freelancers Union??
http://www.freelancersunion.org/…
awesome idea, good luck with it!!!!!!!!
:)
- 67nj0
FIGHT ON!!!
I'm in!to whom we are against tho?
- tkmeister0
sorry, i get 1.5X overtime pay.
- adamfinger0
e-pill,
The Freelancer's Union isn't a union at all. It's a non-profit organization aimed at providing freelancer's with reduced-cost medical coverage. It may serve immediate needs, but it's purpose is not to organize designers against exploitation (a term that unfortunately seems to be reserved only for extreme cases like sweatshops these days).
There are real unions out there that would be more than willing to embrace designers, including freelancers. But as it stands, I could potentially organize my workplace into a union only to be collectively fired and replaced with a non-union staff. In other words, unionization has to be more broadly accepted before it becomes effective.
I know of freelance designers that are members of the Communication Workers of America (AFL-CIO). But as individuals, I don't know what advantages it membership brings them. Perhaps its simply symbolic.
- BANTER0
I've worked under unions, it's not all that great and they sometimes protect people who shouldn't be in the position that they are in... IE, the lazy guy who slacks at work because he knows the union will protect his job.
- adamfinger0
tkmeister, you may personally get 1.5x overtime pay, but that isn't necessarily the norm. Nor can we simply all quit our jobs and hope to work for employers who pay overtime.
And simply because you enjoy certain advantages doesn't mean you shouldn't dismiss the prospects of a union and the benefits it might bestow upon you.
- adamfinger0
BANTER...
Many unions are undoubtedly corrupt. Their effectiveness is a function of how active their members are in decision-making. Some unions, like the Teamsters, for example, make it very hard for their members to have a say in important matters by restricing decision-making to officials (there are rank-and-file organizations, however, that challenge these problems). But this is not characteristic of all unions.
As far as protecting "lazy workers" goes, you have to understand that unions SHOULD push for less hours, less stressful working periods, etc. The work we do is designed for profit. Lazy workers may put more stress on other workers, which could be dealt with on an individual basis, but a Protestant work ethic doesn't really help us out either.
- tkmeister0
i've actually started a thread called 'Financial guide for designers".
you just need to be smart about many aspects to take advantage of it.
unionization wouldn't necessarily help designers.
- Sven_sk0
i have great working conditions and great benefits and great hours
plus i get paid about 1.5x would i probably should get.
i don't think a union is the answer
there are a lot of good places out there to work. its just up to you to man up and search them out
- adamfinger0
tkmeister-
Finances is not always the most important issue. I'm okay with my pay, but I'm not okay with my hours. Workers today, and certainly including designers, work hours comparable to that of 100 years ago. In return, we get the fewest days of vacation of any western country and we get poor social services in return. This is not progress.
Plus being "smart" with your money when the disparity of wealth is so great sounds a lot like capitulation -- simply learning to live with what we get.
According to the 2006 AIGA Salary Survey and the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, designer's aren't that well off. Mid-level salaries are around $40,000-$45,000. Even when its more, the hours required to earn that money plus the high cost of living translates into a real wage that's much less.
- Rand0
didn't mean to make light of this... I work for myself and have no employees, though
- blaw0
given the opportunity in the past, i've always voted against unionizing. i still feel that's the correct vote.
to summarize... if you are unhappy with your current situation, do something about it (ie: find a new job).
- 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.
- johndiggity0
break free of those chains which bind you brother.