Canadian Freelance Union announces Toronto meeting

The Canadian Freelance Union is holding a meeting this coming Friday, September 11 at 7 p.m. in Toronto; a sort of preliminary to the formal, inaugural meeting of members next month.That formal inaugural meeting is scheduled for October 3 and -- to be done virtually, using webcast and online forums -- will be when the charter members elect the union's first national executive and pass the

Canadian Freelance Union to hold inaugural meeting October 3

The quiescent Canadian Freelance Union is apparently rumbling to life. In a bulletin to members, interim president Michael OReilly says that the inaugural meeting of members will be held October 3, with a number of physical sites and electronic links for other places. A draft set of bylaws have been put together by members of the interim executive and interested CFU members and will soon be

Freelance union members number 400, says organizer

The Canadian Freelance Union drive may be coming to life, though the sign up so far is about 400, according to the key organizer. That's not much more than the union was claiming in February. During an exchange on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers (TFEW) listserv, Michael OReilly admits that he has been disappointed by the uptake.My greatest fear in all this is that the market is right;

Canadian Freelance Union: a lamentably long time coming

It was more than two years ago (August 2005) that the first word of the launch of the Canadian Freelance Union was heard about, under the auspices of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, the country's largest media union with 25,000 members.Since then, there have been a series of information meetings and repeated promises that the founding, annual general meeting of the

Quote, unquote: why freelancers need professional help getting rates up

Forcing big media outfits like Rogers & Transcon & CanWest and Torstar to pay more to freelancers seems an impossible task to most writers I know. Of course, writing a densely-researched, skilfully nuanced 3,000 word feature is impossible for most people who aren’t professional journalists. My point is, that’s what professional union people do for a living and if musicians & actors can be

Once again into the fray about freelancer's pay

Globe columnist Russell Smith spends a good deal of his time fussing about double-breasted suits and whether or not to take off your hat, but for some reason he's on a magazine toot recently. A column a week ago was about The Idler magazine which is fondly remembered by many, but which foundered because it was so precious it simply couldn't find a large enough audience.This week (sorry, it's

First issue of new freelance union newsletter

The Canadian Freelance Union has published the first issue of its newsletter, which you can get here.

We're strictly about the money, says freelance union

There's been a bit of grumbling of late about the time it is taking for the Canadian Freelancer's Union to get airborne. A comment by freelancer David Hayes on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list about the example provided by the National Writers's Union in the U.S. prompted CFU President Michael OReilly to respond that the NWU was a pre-existing writer's organization which affiliated

Whither the freelance union?

The fledgling Canadian Freelance Union held an information meeting last night in Toronto. We'd be interested if anyone who attended wanted to give their comments on the event and what they think will happen next. (simply click on the Comments) link at the bottom of this message.

Freelancer's union getting organized

The Canadian Freelance Union (CFU), launched with ambitious hopes and minimal fanfare a year and a half ago, has now signed up about 350 people and is hoping to launch a newsletter and hold an inaugural convention this spring or summer. (See earlier posts here and here.) This, according to a note published on the Toronto Freelancers and Editors list from Michael O'Reilly, the president.Along

Freelance union holds information meeting

The Canadian Freelance Union will be holding an open information session and public discussion in Toronto on March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Northern District Library (near Yonge and Eglinton). All independent contractors in the media, communications and public relations industries are invited. This includes freelance journalists, writers, columnists, photographers, illustrators, web writers, etc.

Nice, you won't have to change the monogram

The official rebranding of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) to the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) comes next May, but the association is rolling it out already and urging its members to use the new name wherever and whenever.This still doesn't make PWAC a trade union with all that entails, but interestingly it has signed a letter of agreement with the the

Herding Cats

Word (from mastheadonline.com) that the Communications Workers plan to organize on behalf of freelancers. Good luck to them. Not that there have been many examples of successfully corralling such a ragtag bunch of independents.It should be recalled that the the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) was intended to do just that, from dictating pay scales to providing a contract template