“Spotlight on…” is a new interview series designed to help you get to know our members on a more personal level. Featured across both our website and Instagram, each edition highlights a different individual. This times, we are excited to introduce Vladimir Kamen, Vice President of the Federation.
Tell us about yourself
It is my pleasure and a great honour to serve FIA as its Vice President (since 2016) and its Honorary Treasurer (since 2021). I am also the coordinator of the Federation’s Eurasian Regional Group (FIA-EA) and the General Secretary of the Consultative Council of Cultural Workers’ Unions, a regional grouping of trade unions covering the broader cultural sector (naturally, including actors and other FIA trades and professions) across East Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.
What made you want to do this job, and how did you first get involved in your union?
My first involvement with the cultural workers’ trade union movement dates back to 1983, when I joined the central staff of the (then) Soviet Cultural Workers’ Union as an International Officer. Promoting co-operation with FIA and participation of my Union in the Federation’s activities was a major part of my duties. By the time the Soviet Union – and the Soviet Cultural Workers’ Union – were disbanded, it had become only natural for me to continue working in the sector to ensure that the successor Cultural Workers’ Unions across the former USSR territory could participate in the international trade union movement and learn from their experienced peers how to deal with the challenges of the transition to market in their economies and in their sectors.
Tell us about a movie or a show that changed your life.
No, I don’t think any movie or show changed – or could change – my life. I believe what shaped my outlook and views was my command of several languages and the ability to gather, analyse and distil information – something I was taught quite thoroughly to do as a student – plus the experience of working, as a student and young professional, for a variety of entities totally unrelated to each other, from a collective farm to a central government agency. This helped me understand the fundamental deficiencies of the social and economic order I had been brought up in and made me want to do something to change it and to help my fellow trade unionists live a better life in a new era.
What are your dreams and hopes for performers worldwide?
Freedom to perform. Decent remuneration. Decent and safe working and living conditions. Effective intellectual property rights protection.
As Vice-president of FIA, what is your priority?
All of the above. 😊 This is, of course, what we all have been striving for within FIA.
Many things have changed significantly in the world over the past few years, so much so that my immediate priority as Vice President – coming from one of the most turbulent regions of the planet – is to keep the region’s Unions united within FIA amid wars and conflicts. Additionally, as FIA Honorary Treasurer, I aim to assist the FIA team in making the Federation financially stronger, more sound, and fit for purpose, enabling it to continue doing its good work worldwide.
Give us an example of how FIA’s work has improved the working conditions of performers in your region?
The rich and varied FIA expertise helped a great deal in shaping up the neighbouring rights legislation in the Soviet Union a couple of years prior to its breakup; luckily, much of it was picked up and used by some of its successor states later, in the 1990’s and 2000’s. FIA also managed to use external (mostly EU) funding when it was readily available to provide much-needed capacity building to trade unionists and performer activists in the Eurasian region to deal with the challenges of their countries’ transition to a market-based economy.
If you had to describe FIA in one word, what would it be?
Solidarity.
