What are you doing to make things better for other freelancers? 👀
Less complaining, more industrial action please.
A few weeks ago, I attended a freelancer drink organised by one of my clients. Many of the freelancers present were journalists or former journalists and – as tends to happen when you gather a lot of journos – people quickly started complaining about low rates, the power imbalance between individual freelancers and mega media companies, and one of the organisations that defends the interests of local journalists here.
Or, rather, that is supposed to defend the interests of freelancers. These freelancers started grumbling that it was a weak organisation; that it was losing relevance every day; that no-one took them seriously, yadda yadda yadda. I’d heard it all before.
And I could feel a thought formulating in my head that I eventually said out loud. I said: “I personally think we get the kind of representation we deserve.” Leaving a pause for dramatic effect, I continued: “As a professional group, we are a bunch of incredibly individualistic people who tend not to stand in solidarity with others.”
I had meant it as a provocative statement but instead, everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
This experience, along with a few other conversations I’ve had over the past few years, brought something home for me that feels at once radical and ridiculously evident – that you can’t achieve industry-wide structural change on your own as a freelancer (or salaried worker for that matter).
Obviously, freelancing comes with a sort of inherent isolation that requires freelancers to make an intentional and continuous effort to break out of their bubble and connect to other freelancers. As I’ve written before, we are each other’s peers but we’re also each other’s competitors, and navigating this odd frenemy situation isn’t easy by any means.
But I would venture naivety and egoism play as much of, if not a bigger role. Naive because no creative freelancer is going to resolve deep, structural issues for their industry on their own. Egoism because so many freelancers seem to only care about getting a good deal for themselves. Après moi, le deluge, you know?
I will be the first one to admit that teaming up with other freelancers as part of a professional association, collective or union was not something that was on my radar for at least the first five years of my freelance career. I was too focused on trying to figure everything out that came with freelancing and generally trying to get by.
As I accrued clients, experience and confidence however, I also gained the headspace to become involved in efforts to improve conditions in the journalism industry.
But I didn’t. Instead, I complained like those freelancers at that drink about this one local organisation that was supposed to stand up for us. It was during one of these whine sessions that a fellow freelancer asked me, very matter-of-factly: “Well, why don’t you get involved and try to change something about the things that are bothering you?”
And so, after a few months, I did. I was with this organisation for a little over two years and learned a lot of lessons in the process, one of which was that I don’t ever want to join an organisation again that doesn’t care about inclusivity.
After I left, I decided to join two unions (which is perhaps one too many). But one of them is doing such great work for freelancers that I wanted to support them with my membership fees.
When I suggest to freelancers they may want to consider joining a union, the first question that follows tends to be a version of: “What do you get out of it?” or “What are the membership benefits?”
On one level, I get it.
On another level … Isn’t this tragic? Unions and professional associations are all about organising their members to improve industry-wide labour conditions. Yet we see them as clubs that need to earn our membership with perks and deals.
I haven’t managed to articulate these thoughts in a coherent way when someone asked me about union membership benefits in the past.
But I swear that next time someone starts complaining about rates, contract terms and the like, I will be even more forward than I was at that freelancer drink. Yes, rates are too low; it’s impossible to negotiate almost anything; and payment terms are ridiculous …
But what are you doing about it?
As always, I’d love to hear from you. Have you ever been involved in efforts to improve conditions in your industry as a freelancer? What was that like? And were you successful?
Comrade Linda
What our readers are saying:
“Don't make freelancing your full-time career right away. This one may get me some hate, but I think it's important. If you have the option to start your freelance career as a side hustle, do so. Putting unfair pressure on your freelance career to give you $3, 000 a month or more right in the beginning can lead you to burnout and despair so fast.” – Response from reader Kelterss to My 10-year anniversary as a freelancer.
What I’m watching, reading, listening to this week:
I’ve been obsessed with organising and how to mobilise freelancers lately, and all my recommendations this week fit that theme.
- This Fresh Air interview with a labour organiser who helped a bunch of workers who rebuild communities after weather disasters to escape a modern-slavery situation and win millions of dollars in damages from the company that exploited them.
- This podcast episode about the good, bad and ugly of unions.
- If you understand Dutch, I would recommend listening to any episode of the Schaamteloos Randstedelijk podcast, a show dissecting millennial, city life through a critical, sometimes anticapitalist lens. This podcast episode about “workism” and our relationship to work is especially relevant to this week’s theme.
I’m starting a decentralized autonomous consulting organization focused on building shared infrastructure together (think financial, sales, and IT). We’re like a coop that pools a percentage of our earnings to achieve economies of scale.
Mooie nieuwsbrief, ik moedig altijd mensen aan om een kleine verandering te brengen in hun werkomstandigheden als er geklaagd wordt. Ik merk dat er vaak geklaagd wordt over 'de nieuwe generatie' omdat ze teveel verwachten. Why not? Ik ben blij dat zij niet meer werken aan het ritme en loon van voorbijgestreden contracten, dat is toch beter voor iedereen als het verbeterd? Veel succes met deze fantastische nieuwsbrief!