Largest-ever freelance delegation attends 2018 CMG convention
Last month the largest-ever delegation of freelancers came together to represent CMG Freelance at the Canadian Media Guild’s 2018 biennial convention in Toronto. Approximately 175 people from 11 branches of the union — including CBC, Thomson Reuters, VICE Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and Canadian Press — attended the convention from May 25 to 27 at […]
From Canada to the Netherlands, freelancers seek community and solidarity
Freelancing is a solitary career. But increasingly, freelancers around the world are seeing the value of community. Unions like our own CMG Freelance here in Canada are attracting a growing number of freelance members. And in the Netherlands, union membership among media freelancers is growing even faster. According to Jim Verhoef, almost half of the […]
Freelancers represent at the 2016 CMG convention
Last weekend media workers from across Canada came together in Toronto to discuss working conditions and the future of our industry. The biennial Canadian Media Guild convention took place on June 4th and 5th at the Holiday Inn Yorkdale. And freelancers, as always, were part of the event. CMG Freelance branch president Don Genova and a group of freelance […]
Working Journalists aims to improve conditions for Chicago-area freelancers
by Rachel Sanders Rob Dicker felt totally secure in his position as staff photographer with Pioneer Press. He had skills, seniority and a great relationship with his manager. So it came as a total shock when he was called into a meeting in May 2013 by his newspaper’s corporate owner, Sun-Times Media. The company laid off its entire […]
2014: A New Era for Freelancers, Solidarity and Unionism
By datejie cheko green, Canadian Media Guild As freelancers we cherish our independence. That’s why few could be faulted for mistaking “freelancer’s union” as a dictionary illustration of an oxymoron. Yet we’ve just come through an unprecedented year of shared trials (as foretold and reported by the editor of this publication in 2013: The Year […]
Study this! Even more reasons to join a union, from a librarian
You’ve seen it here before. We’re not shy about our support for unions, and whether it’s the Born Freelancer explaining why unions are boss or a fun video from the Canadian Media Guild demonstrating the sticky situations that unprotected workers find themselves in, we’re glad to share. We can write about reasons to join a […]
Fun, retro-style video from CMG drives home reasons to join a union
For those not yet convinced, this video commissioned by the Canadian Media Guild/CWA Canada cheekily illustrates a few good reasons to join a union. Produced by MyFilm Productions, with music by Incompetech, the narrative centres on “Jenny,” who is excited to start her new job, only to discover that she was hired to replace a […]
Required reading: A look at freelance writers and collective organizing in Canada
Nicole S. Cohen, a PhD candidate in York University’s Communication and Culture graduate program, is working on a large project on historical and contemporary efforts to organize freelance writers. As part of that project, she’s written a paper entitled “Negotiating Writers’ Rights: Freelance Cultural Labour and the Challenge of Organizing,” recently published in Just Labour: […]
To be or not to be (in a union), that is the question
This series of posts by the Born Freelancer will share personal experiences and thoughts on issues relevant to freelancers. Have something to add to the conversation? Your input is welcome in the comments. “I wouldn’t belong to any club that would have me as a member” — attributed to Groucho Marx I usually feel the […]
German freelancers say “Ja” to minimum pay rates
Freelance journalists may be the lone wolves of the media world, but many are starting to form packs, too. Look at Germany: freelancers there are biting back against “all rights” contracts and establishing fair pay models.
