The Man in the Hat | article | The Freelance Dance: Part One, The Union Question

   "I haven't had a job for over ten years. I just work all the time." This is the tongue-in-cheek joke that I tell on myself. I shoot a television news camera in Southern California. I am not on staff for one specific outlet. My brethren and I are classified by different names at different places: freelancers, daily hires, per diems, and independent contractors. (These are the nicer names.) With the many changes that have come to our market recently, staff employees and freelancers have a better understanding of each other than in the past. My plan for this column is to explore the realities and options of shooting news in an ever-expanding freelance world.

    Most of the news outlets in Los Angeles are union shops. One question for a new shooter coming into the market is whether to join the union. Like so many questions in life, it's a bit more complicated than it might at first seem. The first question is: which union?

    If you only work for one outlet, the answer is simple: the union that has contracted with that station. I have learned to spread myself around town. As a result, I belong to all three unions: IATSE, NABET, and IBEW. To further complicate matters, KTTV-TV, Fox 11 is represented by both IATSE 600 and NABET 53. The scorecard for the rest of the town is as follows: IATSE 600 represents KTLA (5), KTTV (11), KCOP (13), and KCET (28). NABET 53 represents NBC Network, KNBC (4), KTTV (11), KMEX (34), Univision, and KVEA (52), Telemundo. NABET 57 represents ABC and KABC (7). IBEW 45 represents CBS Network, KCBS (2), and KCAL (9).

   Quite the alphabet soup, is it not? How unfortunate it is for members that these entities couldn't consolidate into a single, more powerful union. How union members and nonmembers come down on the usefulness of unions currently varies as much as the people themselves. Some gripe about the dues that they pay, thinking of it as another tax levied upon them. Some join the union enthusiastically. They may even get involved as shop stewards and committee members. Most fall somewhere in between.

   We just celebrated Labor Day again this September. For a good deal of the population, it has become just a day off and a long weekend signaling the end of summer and the start of the new school year. Many have forgotten or never learned that in the early part of the twentieth century, folks organized unions at their own peril to create the 8 hour work day and the 40 hour work week. Collective bargaining led the way to a great many reforms in the workplace. Even those not covered under an agreement benefit from the negotiations of their unionized counterparts. "A rising tide lifts all boats."

   The initiation fees and dues vary widely among the three unions mentioned above. If and when you are ready to join, you be wisely advised to ask your union representative for options, payment plans, discounts for quick payment, and checkoff payment. Every photographer must make their own decision as to what works best for them.

   The unions themselves are not perfect. They are run by human beings with human flaws and frailties. From time to time, they have had their dirty underwear exposed to the public eye. Still, in a world of corporate mergers, Enron investigations, and a business/corporate friendly White House, unions are often the last defense of the working person. Sometimes they actually do represent the interests of those workers. I, for one, shudder to think what the day rate would be without collective bargaining. Besides, all the dues one pays to unions are tax deductible.