Barely 46 people were present at the general assembly of the Union of Quebec Writers and Writers (UNEQ), during which it was decided that all Quebec authors should pay dues to it, including those who are not members of the organization. A decision which continues to raise ire in the literary world, while the UNEQ is accused of having acted on the sly.
“Wow! I can not believe it. Forty-six people out of 1600 UNEQ members. And the 1600 members, that already represents only a fraction of all the authors. So 46 people decided for everyone. There is clearly a democratic deficit, an ethical problem with the UNEQ”, launches the novelist Mylène Gilbert-Dumas, who does not take off. She was a member of UNEQ for ten years, before slamming the door because she criticized the organization for stifling debate in its ranks.
If the negotiations between the union and the publishers are successful, non-member authors like her will have to pay 5% of their income in dues to UNEQ. The members will pay 2.5% to the UNEQ, in accordance with what was decided following this very confidential general assembly held in June.
Mylène Gilbert-Dumas does not question the reform of the status of the artist, which granted writers additional protections. It is thanks to this new law that the UNEQ, which until then was only an association, can today demand a contribution, both from its members and from its non-members, and thus constitute itself as as a union in good standing.
“I agree with UNEQ becoming a union. We know that there are abusive contracts in the publishing world and that we have to face up. But the problem is that UNEQ has no union culture. And the way it is doing now only serves as a reminder of its culture of lack of transparency. If the UNEQ wants to play in the big leagues, it must train its board of directors and its employees in the best union practices,” she underlines.
For some of the authors, the UNEQ suffers from a lack of credibility. Many openly doubt that what was previously an association with few resources can become a union capable of wresting better working conditions from publishers.
“I wouldn’t mind paying a membership fee knowing that UNEQ will succeed in requiring publishers to pay us 12% or 13% royalties. But we know that there is a good chance with UNEQ that we will stay at 10%, as has been the case for years. […] We have never had services with UNEQ before. People call, and we are not called back. The Director General [Laurent Dubois] doesn’t even come from the world of literature. It is an organization that is so undemocratic and so insensitive to the reality of authors,” says writer Marie-Paule Villeneuve, who was once a member of UNEQ and who promises not to return.
Marie-Paule Villeneuve accuses the UNEQ of seeking in a roundabout way to expand its membership by requesting a contribution twice as high from non-member authors.
On social networks, several other successful authors, such as Geneviève Pettersen and Michel Jean, have also raised doubts about the way in which this decision was adopted at the general meeting.
UNEQ on the defensive
Remember that this general meeting took place before a very small committee in June, but that the decision was only confirmed by the UNEQ last week. Until Tuesday, the director general refused to say how many people were present during the vote. In its statutes and regulations, UNEQ does not set a quorum to be respected during general assemblies.
“We should have announced the decision before,” concedes the director general of the UNEQ, Laurent Dubois, who however sees no problem of legitimacy in the fact that 46 people have taken a decision that will affect all writers in Quebec.
“All UNEQ members have been invited. You know like me that it is very difficult to have an associative life, like any organization. It would not be democratic to set aside the decision of people who made the effort to be present, ”continues Mr. Dubois, who excludes the idea of a new general assembly.
A two-tier contribution
Laurent Dubois vigorously defends the skills his organization will bring to successful negotiations with publishers. The Director General also finds it normal that non-members pay more for their dues than members, although the latter are entitled to more services.
The UNEQ says it is following the example of SARTEC, the union of radio, television and cinema authors, which imposes a union dues of 2.5% on members and 5% on non-members.
However, SARTEC members also pay a contribution of 2.5% for the “Security fund for the insurance scheme”, to which non-members do not have access. This means that in total, members and non-members pay the same amount to SARTEC.