EuroFIA - News details
Meeting Report from the EuroFIA Meeting, Copenhagen 4th - 6th April 2017
The EuroFIA group met in Copenhagen on the 4-6th April 2017, hosted by Danish unions DSF and DAF. The group was also pleased to welcome FIA President Ferne Downey, who joined the meetings. The meetings were hosted in the premises of Landsorganisationen i Danmark (LO Denmark), which is the Danish Trade Union Confederation. DAF is affiliated to LO. The beautiful waterfront building made a great setting for the meeting. EuroFIA was also honoured to welcome Lisette Risgaard, the first female President of LO, elected in 2015, who addressed the group. She welcomed them the LO house, where LO is always pleased to welcome union delegates from around the world. She noted that the agenda for the EuroFIA meeting covers many important common topics. Gender equality is certainly a priority and unions have much to do on equal pay, portrayal, board membership etc. Atypical workers too are a clear challenge for the future. The media, arts and entertainment sector is doing a great job here – and there is much we can learn from each other, also as regards the challenge of organizing such workers. Decent working conditions must be for all workers. She closed by wishing all EuroFIA members a very productive meeting.
Delegates made the most of their early arrival on April 3rd, with both the Opera Singers’ Group and the Central and South Eastern Europe Group meeting to discuss issues of common concern. The 4th of April was entirely given over to IP matters, in FIA’s annual meeting with Collective Management Organisations representing audiovisual performers. Naturally, the current European Copyright Reform process dominated discussions, with many improvements needed in order for the proposal to deliver meaningful outcomes for performers, in particular as regards the remuneration they derive from the online use of their work. The role of ISPs in the fight against piracy, the WIPO Beijing Treaty and the ongoing need for private copying to evolve to take account of new forms were among the other discussion items on the agenda. This annual meeting continues to be a valuable annual forum for exchange of views and coordination with CMOs from across the EU.
The EuroFIA group meeting followed on the 5th and 6th of April, with a day and half filled with lively debates and discussions, chaired by FIA Vice President and DSF President Katja Elgard Holm. DSF accepted a two year mandate as the EuroFIA coordinating union at the 2016 Lisbon meeting. The meeting opened with an inspiring panel on gender equality, where EuroFIA was delighted to receive two Danish guest speakers: Researcher Tess Skadegard Thorsen, PhD-Fellow and Marianne Aelund Sig, of Nordea Bank. Tess Skadegard Thorsen drew the attention of EuroFIA delegates to the UN framework and the mechanisms that it offers, particularly in terms of pressuring corporations that do not fulfil their social responsibility. She also explored the legal arguments for affirmative action, as well as financial arguments in favour of more diversity on screen. Marianne Aelund Sig described the challenges in the financial sector, and specifically on how to create a more inclusive culture in the sector. Change has to come from the top, with commitment from the highest positions. Awareness has to be built in throughout the whole system and value chain. This helps to unpick where the imbalances are being introduced and maintained. Data is broken down and crunched to really understand where inequalities persist.
Other memorable panels were those on the use of new technologies in union business and on union work to reach out to and support refugees. The technology panel offered the concrete example of a digital membership system, with a smartphone based membership card etc. from STST in Finland; as well as the more challenging example of the emerging ‘Umbel’ tool from Kunstenbond, which is intended to be a philosophy, a method and now an app. It is based on informal rather than formal organization structures and cooperation is participatory and network based. It is very transparent and makes work visible. For digital workers and for unions that have a strong online engagement with members, this is a promising approach and interface. The refugee panel brought together different experiences from Equity, UK; CASOD, Turkey; and TF, Sweden. These unions have tried, in different ways, to reach out to refugee artists and performers. They shared views on how this can be approached, the challenges encountered and the practical benefit that can be delivered. The EuroFIA will continue to pursue this topic in line with the emergency motion adopted at the Sao Paulo Congress.
The next meeting of the EuroFIA will take place from the 26th to the 28th of September 2017 and include a one-day project meeting on the Dance Passport on the 26th.
Meeting Documents are available below to logged-in group members:
National Reports:
