Unionization!
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- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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.
- tkmeister0
sorry, i get 1.5X overtime pay.
- 67nj0
FIGHT ON!!!
I'm in!to whom we are against tho?
- e-pill0
adam-
have you contacted the Freelancers Union??
http://www.freelancersunion.org/…
awesome idea, good luck with it!!!!!!!!
:)
- 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_b_c0
;)
- e_b_c0
I'll design your union logo.
- harlequino0
Bloody Bolshevik.
;)
- brooke0
Adamfinger for president!
- Rand0
this is really taking off!
- 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.
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