The EuroFIA group met online on the 15th of December 2022. The meeting time was dedicated in part to updates on various relevant European policy topics and project work and in part to developments at national level and areas of joint work in FIA affiliate unions. The secretariat led the members through policy developments with interest and impact for the sector and for the trade union movement, such as the new guidelines on competition rules and collective bargaining; the Minimum wage directive, the Platform work directive and the ongoing work in the Commission’s Agenda for Culture and the Open Method of Coordination group of Members States on working conditions of artists and cultural workers.
The was a round of national reports from EuroFIA unions on recent national developments. Some highlights included the report from Conarte Spain that on 28th December the structure of the new status of the artist law in Spain would be published. In Sweden and Slovenia there has been progress on the transposition of the Digital Single Market (Copyright) Directive. In Sweden a new law will is expected which the union plans to have as a central focus in its work. In Slovenia the DSM has been transposed into law, with nine rights for performers, so a better basis for real remuneration.
The group was pleased to welcome union trainer Tara O’Dowd, who is one of the union trainers on the Atypical Workers project and who joined the meeting to feedback on the training underway involving EuroFIA unions. Common threads include the challenge of a shift from a servicing approach to an organising approach in all aspects of union work and the substantial and profound change in all aspects of work that this requires. She noted that meaningful organising requires information about how the industry works, how the economy works, how other unions are making changes and all of this in turn helps to mobilise many people for a large change. Training and coaching will continue in all of the unions in the final phase of the project. FIA unions ZDUS, AUT, Kunstenbond and Fair-Media-Sind shared some thoughts on the experience in their unions, the changes it has delivered and the outlook for future work.
The group was also informed about plans for upcoming meetings and publications from FIA. The social dialogue meeting dates for 2023 have been set and circulated and the EuroFIA in Spring 2023 will be in Tallinn, Estonia from 29-31 May. There will be a number of online meetings in the coming months, including a webinar dedicated to the launch of FIA’s planned guidelines on remuneration models for SVOD; webinars organised by the global diversity working groups and a planned online event on dubbing. In terms of publications, in addition to the aforementioned SVOD guidelines; FIA is also reissuing a revamped and updated version of the ActSafe Health and & Safety Guidelines and the report on circus is also expected later this year.
