The EuroFIA Group convened in the magnificent, historical town of Leiden in the Netherlands at the end of April, for 2,5 day meeting, that also included a day-long exchange with the European CMOs active in the Audiovisual sector and their European network Aepo-Artis. EuroFIA meetings were chaired by the EuroFIA coordinator Equity UK. Kunstenbond, FIA’s affiliate in the Netherlands, hosted the meeting, while Dutch CMO Norma also hosted the session with the CMOs. The EuroFIA group was also grateful to receive some support from the Dutch Film Fund for the Meeting. The EuroFIA unions were welcomed to Leiden by Manu Van Kersbergen, the newly elected chair of the board of the Kunstenbond. He talked about his own background as a hip hop artist, an artistic sector where there is an importance ethos of ‘each one, teach one’. He emphasised that this same ethos of collaboration is vital in the trade union movement, but also in the Arts world, where culture crosses borders and international cooperation is needed. There is much work to done within unions to make new groups of young professionals welcome in the trade union movement, especially in the currently challenging political times, where technological change is also rapid and AI is having a deep impact. These sentiments were strongly supported within the group and were themes returned to many times in the course of discussions.
The EuroFIA meeting tackled several topical issues via discussion panels. There was an extensive panel discussion on AI clauses in collective bargaining, with input from EuroFIA members in Germany, France and Estonia to share the experience of negotiating on use of AI in production with employer counterparts and the important safeguards and protections that are being put in place via such agreements. Another panel took a deep dive into how union communications are changing and evolving and brought together experience from Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden. Each of the participating unions shared the strategic reflection and experimentation that resulted in new ways to engage with members and meaningfully share what the union is doing and create a sense of community. Some common trends included a pivot to mostly short-form video communication, and ideas and approaches were shared among the EuroFIA group for finding the right opportunities to short content and then how best to deploy it for maximum impact. While it is a labour-intensive form of messaging, it is more accessible than it initially seems and can deliver strong results. The final panel of the meeting was the forum for sharing concerns on the rise of the far right in politics and the impact into the future on cultural policy and the culture sector. Unions shared their campaigning and outreach to members, as well as some of the worrying trends that are being observed. There was a recognition that trade unions have a responsibility to stand up to the far right, that will often seek to target them. This is a discussion that will be further expanded at FIA’s World Congress this year.
FIA joined hands with Aepo Artis to put together a strong line-up for the one day meeting with CMOs active in the Audiovisual sector. AI was naturally an important topic, with much focus on the right method to redress the harm being done by data scraping and the TDM exception. Panel discussions explored the protections offered by GDPR and how they may be deployed, as well as strategies for an effective opt-out mechanism. There was also a presentation by a Commission representative of the European Survey and Report on Contractual Practices in the Audiovisual sector, which does not paint a very encouraging picture of the impact of the DSM directive and the principle of appropriate and proportionate remuneration. Delegates urged action to address the stubborn issue of buyouts to the benefit of the sector’s workforce.
The group meeting closed with warm thanks to host Kunstenbond and looks forward to convening again in person in the second half of the year at the FIA World Congress. The week-long programme in Birmingham in November of this year will also include a one-day meeting of the EuroFIA group on November 10th, with time to deliberate on Congress business as well as ongoing European policy and union priorities.
