I’ve been a member of the Freelancers Union for quite a while now, but I still don’t know exactly what the FU is, or what being a “member” means. I mean, it’s clearly not a normal labor union because membership requires no status or commitment of any kind.
I’m not unhappy with FU, but I remain curious.
Indeed, I joined because I wanted to learn more about freelancing and about the issues that the FU deals with—the welfare of contemporary workers. Still, it’s notable that I still don’t know very much about the FU.
The FU is quite opaque.
The mystery has only deepened in recent years, as the FU has begun to offer health insurance and has opened its “hub” in NYC. Offering insurance is not something that any old website can do. And their”hub” is an actual analog place that offers a lot of “training” for members and the public. The “training” is a combination of political organizing, things corporate trainers offer as well, as well as pitches for products aimed at freelancer workers. One notable example is a sales pitch for travel packages that are portrayed as “opportunities for digital nomads”.
And, of course, the FU has also been deeply involved in political action, notably the NYC “Freelancing Isn’t Free” initiative.
These activities have moved beyond advocacy, and into the realm of a conventional labor union. But there still are no membership requirements or dues.
However, one thing the FU doesn’t do is actually negotiate contracts or terms with employers or legally represent workers. The members of FU aren’t legally “employees” in most cases, (though the FU is working on that), so they can’t belong to a union according to US law.
It’s an unusual mix of activities, and, when you think about it, a rather opaque business model. There are no membership fees, no contractual recognition, no legal status. I assume that there is some kind of income generated by the insurance, and I assume the FU gets some kind of payment from the company pitches they promote (e.g., the travel packages). Overall, it’s a low budget operation, but you have to wonder how it affords to, say, pay for and staff it’s “hub”, or lobby for legislation.
With all these unanswered questions, I was especially interested to read an interview with Rafael Espinal, executive director of the Freelancers Union [1].
The first question is, if the FU is not a labor union under US law, what is it? It is, in fact a not for profit (actually, at least two NFPs). Essentially, it is a charity plus a political lobby.
Notably, the FU is not a representative of its members or their interests. It advocates and promotes the interest of all independent workers, members or not.
As far as I can tell, the “hub” with “free coworking” is funded with a grant from NYC. Which is believable, but doesn’t sound sustainable to me, so I expect there will have to be additional funding from somewhere in the near future.
Since the FU is not, and as far as I can see, never can be a labor union in the eyes of US law, perhaps it should change its name. One of its umbrellas is called “Working Today”, but that sounds like a free magazine insert. Maybe something as simple as “Freelancers” AKA, “The Freelancers” would be better than the deeply misleading “Union”.
As I said, I haven’t been unhappy as a “member” of FU. I don’t actually freelance (though, line everyone, I could become a freelancer tomorrow), and I haven’t actually got anything beyond reading their blog and other info. But the FU has been doing sensible things and getting some wins. So keep it up. I still proud to be a member, however little that requires of me.
Noone asked, but I’ll tell you my my biggest gripe with the FU: the NYC-centrism.
Espinal and the FU are based in NYC, and, inevitably, are very focused on what they know best—the city. They have realistic notions of replicating their local success, at least in other urban areas in the US, notably LA. But, as I have commented before, I haven’t seen much evidence that the FU is penetrating the wide world outside NYC.
I can personally confirm that this FU member is unmoved by the opportunity to attend social hours in downtown NYC. Shockingly enough, I’m not going to travel to NYC, or even Chicago, to network for a few hours with strangers. So, I’d love to see some programming that filters out beyond NYC and other urban cores. I’d even volunteer time to help make it so where I live.
Big picture: I think the world outside major cities is a huge untapped resource for the FU.
By the way, this opportunity is not being missed by the coworking industry, which serves pretty much the same folks as the FU advocates for. There are coworking spaces every darn where, even out in the country.
Why isn’t there an FU presence in every coworking space?
- Rozena Crossman, Meet the New Yorker pushing for a better deal for freelancers, in Welcome to the Jungle, February 2, 2023. https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/freelancers-unions-in-nyc
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