«Introduction
Navigating the realm of artists’ working conditions is like
exploring a colourful mosaic of concerns. From social
security to labour relations, taxation, and artistic freedom,
the landscape is complex and varied. While some issues
fall under cultural ministries, others are managed by other
government departments. In this intricate picture, cultural
institutions, unions, and artists themselves all play vital
roles. Finally, the perception of artists’ labour by the general
public is also a massive factor in shaping policies and
allocating budgets.
Fair remuneration is an issue that intricately involves all of the
aforementioned stakeholders. When legal frameworks are
ineffective or non-existent, it depends on everyone’s stance
and commitment. Collective bargaining can be a significant
tool in the arts sector to regulate remuneration, reducing
the number of low-paid workers. However, some countries
lack comprehensive union practices, leaving certain sectors
or types of workers, for instance freelancers, outside their
scope or reliant on recommended minimum fees. In many
places in the world, the lack of clarity, transparency, and
shared understanding around remuneration in the arts
continues to foster exploitative practices and undermine
the sustainability of artists’ livelihoods and careers.
The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have made
this debate unavoidable. Over 10 million cultural jobs have
vanished, revealing and intensifying fragilities within the
cultural sector1. Despite the implementation of numerous
new policies and frameworks aimed at improving the
situation, studies worldwide continue to identify structural
deficiencies within the cultural ecosystem2. There is a need
for concrete and ambitious actions that surpass mere
declarations and partial measures.
Through this publication, our aim is to extract insights
into the various roles that public funders, artists, unions,
resource organisations, and institutions, can undertake in
promoting and enacting fair pay practices. Furthermore,
we aim to shed light on possible gaps in existing
frameworks, as well as areas outside of regulations and
legal enforcement. Our goal is also to discuss the various
dilemmas within the fair pay debate that hinder positive
change.
We gathered several examples of successful policies and
advocacy processes and identified obstacles that may
prevent the integration of fair practices into policies and
everyday operations. Failure to address these challenges
could potentially exacerbate existing gaps and create new
ones. Looking at the various measures adopted in different
countries (although the list is by no means exhaustive) and
hearing from sector representatives, we advocate for a
positive perspective on gradual changes and small-step
approaches. At the same time, we also emphasise that it is
important to be vigilant to ensure fair pay interventions
do not merely fulfil checkboxes and stifle further debate. We hope that this exploration of pathways and nuances
can enrich the fair pay discourse and assist arts advocates,
funders, and policy-makers in crafting meaningful strategies
tailored to their local and national contexts, or sparking this
crucial conversation in areas where it has yet to happen».
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Para ajudar na reflexão, a questão que não paramos de trazer para o Elitário Para Todos: como se chega às VERBAS do Orçamento do Estado para o Setor? E para os designados APOIOS através da DGARTES? A reivindicação «1% para a Cultura» tem lugar mas não chega. Uma maneira para olharmos par o problema é não passarmos ao lado de situações miseráveis em que se encontram profissionais reformados/as...
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