A Union for Freelancers

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In an article published last weekend in the New York Times, author Steven Greenhouse reports on efforts to bring together tens of thousands of freelancers in order to form the Freelancers Union.

Founded by Sara Horowitz, a former labor lawyer, the Freelancers Union aims to become "a forceful advocacy group for freelancers and independent contractors, the most mobile members of an increasingly mobile work force", Greenhouse writes.

From the New York area alone some 40,000 freelancers from different industries, including Web designers, video editors, writers, dancers and graphic artists, are reported to have signed up already. Ms. Horowitz now hopes to convince some 20 million freelancers and independent contractors U.S. wide to join the FU.

"These workers are the backbone for so many industries vital to our nation?s economy --- I.T., financial services, the arts, advertising and publishing. Yet these same workers are not afforded simple job protections or a social safety net," she is cited in the NYTimes article.

The Freelancers Union's main goal, Greenhouse writes, is not bargaining with employers but to provide mutual help, and health benefits. According to Ms. Horowitz, the "ultimate goal is to update the New Deal. It is to create a new safety net that?s connected to the individual as they move from job to job."

Using the combined buying power of the Freelancers Union, members are offered affordable health insurance plans for about US$ 300 per months, some 40 percent below the average cost for health insurance for freelancers, the article informs. Membership in the Union is free, the organization finances itself from modest commissions.

Source: NYTimes