Need assistance with union information and contacts

Business & Career Building

Need assistance with union information and contacts

Posted by Dustin Lau on July 22, 2010 at 9:18 am
Greetings fellow cow users.

This is a request for information or contacts from trade unions or guilds in your respective countries.

Some of the issues faced by Singaporean freelancers include
- lack of insurance coverage for local and overseas shoots
- late or no payment
- working excessively long hours (I personally have done 52 hours in one shift)
- large labour influx due to increased number of media related academic courses with no proportional increase in job creation
- lack of documentation vis a vis written contracts
- lack of Intellectual Property protection for writers and directors
- no residuals on content created
- Contracts ensure commissioning agencies own the copyright, not the content creator
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1044143/1/.html

I would appreciate any information or contacts any of you can give me regarding guilds, associations or unions.

Thanks for your time.

https://www.luminoir.com
Dustin Lau replied 15 years, 10 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
2 Replies

Mads Nybo jørgensen
July 22, 2010 at 10:44 am

Hey Justin,

I am personally not a great fan of unions simply because of a long past experience (in another country) where I found my union more concerned about my employer than me…

The main union in the UK is https://www.bectu.org.uk/home – I have never been a member, but I know people that has been and is very happy with it. Bectu also have a very large document section including rates etc.

However, bottom-line though is that a union does not guarantee you fair practice, this has to be the responsibility of the individual. And as harsh as this comment is; you are guilty in accepting to do a 52 hour job “just to be the hero”, when in fact you are putting your own and other peoples lives at risk – one of the industry’s hidden killers, including that of innocent bystanders, are when workers/freelancers without enough rest decides to drive their own car home and fall asleep at the wheel… So learn to say “No”, and negotiate your own fair terms, but don’t rely on organising a bunch of hungry film makers.

All the Best
Mads
London, UK

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Dustin Lau
July 22, 2010 at 12:03 pm

Hi Mads,

I appreciate your help and your comment is not harsh, it is perfectly reasonable.
It was meant to be a job with normal hours which overran spectacularly due to a very inexperienced director, and is something I avoid these days.

Saying no is part of the equation, the other critical things we do need are insurance; crews often work completely uninsured and shoot overseas with vanilla travel insurance, if any at all, and the terms are voided because of the nature of work. Saying no would be a great option if the practice were not as prevalent as it is.

These issues do need a group of some sort to broker favourable group rates for the collective. There is currently only one private insurer who provides insurance for the production industry and it is based on individual rates.

Thanks for your input and the information it is very much appreciated!

Cheers
Dustin

https://www.luminoir.com

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