Freelancers of the World, Unite!

Independent writers, photographers, videographers and graphic designers are signing up for Guild Freelancers, a growing part of the Pacific Media Workers Guild and the NewsGuild-CWA, to build stability in a rapidly changing industry.

“The term ‘gig economy’ has a cute, hip ring to it,” said Guild Freelancers co-founder and current secretary-treasurer Rebecca Rosen Lum. “But freelance journalists know there is nothing cute about coming up short at the end of the month, about suffering with an impacted wisdom tooth for lack of dental coverage, about never being able to go on holiday with your children. We urge all independents to look past the marketing talk to the realities. The security freelancers need and deserve can only be won through solidarity.”

Together, they’ve negotiated better dental and vision insurance plans than what they could have accessed as individuals. Though credentials are traditionally reserved for major media organizations, these media workers have secured press passes to cover big news events. When publishers drag their feet on payment, the union helps members collect their fees.

As independent workers, freelancers can’t afford to fall behind. So the Guild is offering free courses in design, coding, photography and business to help members sharpen their skills. It’s held numerous education events covering topics like creating multimedia stories on the cheap, database reporting and how to take news photos with your iPhone. It’s also providing training programs for journalism students.

But that’s just a starting point. Freelancers have big plans on how to strengthen and flex their solidarity.

“Now is the time to look toward legislation,” said Lum. “We’re going to be pressing lawmakers to sponsor bills that expand rights and protections for freelance journalists.”

Soon they’ll be fighting to raise rates. In the pre-digital era, one print article might have paid $1,000; today, those print assignments have dried up and web rates are just a fraction of those old paydays. So members are discussing creating a wage floor that, for instance, makes $1-a-word and $100-a-photo the new standard for the industry.

Freelancers also are looking for ways to effectively address mistreatment and discrimination on the job. This could mean legal aid for freelancers who don’t get paid for their work, or support for workers who have been treated unfairly. Another key area is how to help members plan for retirement.

Pacific Media Workers Guild Executive Officer Carl Hall said, “Our freelance members have a lot of reasons to organize and fight. Freelancers, united, will never be defeated.”