AAP 405—Creative Workers and Labor Rights

During their professional and academic training, creative workers are habitually sold a glossy version of freelance work and tips on how to make it in creative sector, including visual and performing arts, music, creative writing, design, animation, gaming, film, TV, publishing, architecture or any other field that relies on a workers creative input. Art schools and creative programs tend to rely on ideas of entrepreneurship, creative start-ups, and branding. By and large they omit critical discussions about the exploitative realities of the labor market in the creative sector, including inadequate labor standards, employment protections, social insurance programs, appropriate payment, and the role of unions. Once creative workers get out of school and find themselves on the labor market, they very often work as self-employed, meaning they do not have access to the same level of protection and working conditions as wage workers. Nevertheless, creative work is commonly perceived as providing more satisfaction, autonomy and freedom, which ostensibly justifies low or no pay for creative labor. If creative workers do what they love and love what they do, do they in fact need unions or labor rights?