March for the Arts are creating a new Freelance Working Agreement for Liverpool City Region and they need more voices to help shape it.
They need to hear about the problems freelancers and workers in the arts face, and to hear from people with a range of perspectives and areas of expertise.
Have your say now. Or read on to find out more…
The Freelance Working Agreement will be a document that outlines the best ways that freelancers and organisations, or freelancers and freelancers, can work with each other – to make sure we’re all on the same page for the future.
It will include things like:
Dos and don’ts
Useful questions for freelancers to ask at the beginning of a job
Guidance on payment and hiring
What kind of communication freelancers need
What information and support they should be provided
What freelancers should ask for from organisations
Useful templates.
It will ask everyone who signs up to try their best in meeting these standards. The document is being discussed and written at the moment by a committee of freelancers and organisations from different sectors in the arts.
However, they really need to hear from the wider community, from those who might not be represented by the committee. Find out who’s on the committee.
If you consider yourself to be freelance or self-employed and if you work or have interest in an artistic sector, or if you are student going into the arts (anything from graphic design, music, and fine art to architecture) please have your say in what the agreement says…in any of these five ways:
1. Weekly Open Meetings
Running until 14th May – anyone is free to come along and chat with March for the Arts and others on various topics. All very casual, over Zoom and no commitment to more than one session, or even the full hour, is required.
Tuesdays 18:30-19:30, drop in, open topic, all welcome
Thursdays 3pm-4pm, discussion topic changes each week but not strict, drop in, all welcome.
Get the Zoom links emailed to you by signing up here.
2. Set up a meeting with them over Zoom
If you’ve got a subject you’d like to discuss or simply want to know more about the project and the working agreement please get in touch and the team will happily meet with you at a time that suits. Examples of areas to talk about might be your experiences of or thoughts about: hiring process, inclusion, grievance processes or contracts.
Just email info@marchforthearts.com
3. Suggestion Box
There is also always a suggestion box open on their ‘have your say’ page, you can give them ideas or share issues; things you think should be in a agreement or just general thoughts about freelance working life. There are no wrong answers!
4. Share your experiences
To help them see the common problems that freelancers face, there is also a form where people can anonymously share their stories about freelancing in the arts. These might be sensitive or difficult, or you may just want to tell them a story! Click here to contribute or share this link: https://forms.gle/
5. Open Consultation
When the first draft of the document is finished they will need your feedback before they write the final draft. You can tear it apart and help them build it back up!
Join them on Monday 10th May for a remote live launch where they’ll talk you through what they’ve managed to produce and await your criticism. The following week will also be time for you to get back to them with comments and suggestions in whatever way works for you.
You can RSVP to the consultation launch event on Facebook or visit their webpage where they will publish a link soon.