No union dues: the UNEQ board of directors resigns en bloc

< /p> UPDATE DAY

The Board of Directors of the Union of Quebec Writers and Writers (UNEQ) resigned en bloc on Thursday after members “manifest[ed] a disavowal of the strategic vision” that he had come up with, rejecting the proposal to introduce union dues. 

In an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday, the members of the UNEQ have indeed rejected the proposal to impose a contribution of 2.5% on the income of members in good standing and 5% on the income of non-members. According to the vote count, 248 people rejected the proposal (55.98%), 178 were in favor (40.18%) and another 17 indicated their abstention (3.84%).

“By rejecting this resolution, the members demonstrate a disavowal of the strategic vision carried by the UNEQ Board of Directors. Since 2018, it has pursued the priority objective of establishing and implementing a collective framework of minimum working conditions for literary artists, and it still considers that the implementation of union dues would be the best way to finance the implementation of collective negotiations that has been made possible by the entry into force of the new [Law on the status of the artist,” UNEQ said in a press release on Friday.

The resigning president of the UNEQ board, Suzanne Aubry, deplored “the violence of certain remarks made in recent months on social networks or in private exchanges” and said that the “members of the board of directors remain convinced of the absolute necessity to collectively negotiate minimum conditions for literary artists. It will be up to a new team of elected officials to build another proposal to achieve this long-awaited goal for decades. The new [Law on the status of the artist is a great victory and remains, in our eyes, the most precious element for future progress”.

The collective resignation of the seven members of the CA de l'UNEQ will be in effect at the next annual general meeting scheduled for May 31.

As for the sale of the Maison des writers, the proposal was amended during the meeting of March 29 in order to be split into two parts.

Thus, we end up with a resolution adopted on the sale of the Writers' House and with “a resolution on an 18-month moratorium aimed at giving priority to acquisition projects whose mission would be to promote literature and the profession of writer and writer”, which was also adopted, it was specified.