Less than a week after taking the reins of the Union of Quebec Writers and Writers (UNEQ), youth author Pierre-Yves Villeneuve is not afraid to tackle angry subjects head-on. Without language of wood, he maintains that the sale of the House of writers is inevitable. He is more cautious on the thorny subject of contributions, but does not hide the fact that the UNEQ will inevitably have to seek new income to assume its role as a union.
In interview at Duty, Pierre-Yves Villeneuve reiterated that the UNEQ needed new sources of funding to carry out negotiations with publishers. Remember that these have been interrupted since the end of March, postponing indefinitely the signing of the first collective agreement in the world of literature.
The process is on hold after UNEQ members rejected by nearly 56% the proposal to establish a union dues of 2.5% on the income of member authors, and 5% on those of non-member authors . “The proposal that was made will not come back. What was proposed at the end of March is dead and buried. It will take a new formula, it is sure that it will not be the same”, assures the new president of the UNEQ, who was among those who had voted for the contributions proposed by the union.
Tensions on contributions
Pierre-Yves Villeneuve had been sitting on the UNEQ board of directors since December. Like all the other board members, including former president Suzanne Aubry, he resigned the day after the general assembly where the position of UNEQ was defeated. The one who earns his living as a children’s author then presented himself in the election that followed to fill the positions left vacant. He was elected last week alongside four other authors who agree that UNEQ needs new sources of funding.
In short, two months after its members rejected the union dues proposed by UNEQ, the union is now run by a board of directors largely dominated by authors who were in favor of it. “I don’t think that’s a contradiction. […] We know that at the general assembly, there are people who said they were in favor of the principle of contributions, but who voted against the proposal, because they felt that the UNEQ was moving too quickly. They felt like they didn’t have enough information. It forces us to take a break, get back to work and better explain what is coming,” drops Pierre-Yves Villeneuve.
UNEQ intends to consult the authors starting this fall about funding. How high should members and non-members participate? Is a contribution system still the best approach? So many questions on which the new president is waiting to know the opinion of his members before deciding.
“It is essential to adequately fund the UNEQ so that it has the means to fulfill its union mission and to be able to represent and defend writers. But we must also try to find other sources of funding that would minimize the burden for writers,” he says.
continuity man
On other subjects, however, Pierre-Yves Villeneuve’s position is already well established. It is out of the question, for example, to review the definition of what a writer is. Within the meaning of the current law, the UNEQ is able to collect contributions on the income from any publishing contract, without distinction of gender. This therefore includes not only literature, but also cookbooks, car guides or even esoteric books. Moreover, the recent reform on the status of the artist makes UNEQ not only the union of authors, but also of illustrators and translators.
“If we start trying to define the genres that are affected by the law, we will not get out of it”, decides the one who does not derogate either from the opinion of the former leaders of the UNEQ about the sale. of the House of Writers.
Although several renowned authors have expressed their attachment to this ancestral building, Pierre-Yves Villeneuve confirms that the UNEQ will part with it and ideally move to the offices of the Union des artistes (UDA), on avenue De Gaspé. .
During the extraordinary general assembly of March 29, the members had approved by a narrow majority the sale of the historical headquarters of the UNEQ, located near the square Saint-Louis. However, the UNEQ has given itself 18 months to find a new buyer who wants to pursue the literary mission of the place. At the end of this deadline, the Writers’ House will be put up for sale on the market.
“The House is not in great condition. It is a house that is made very large for our needs. I understand the attachment, but the necessary investments are too great”, sums up Pierre-Yves Villeneuve, who believes that the Maison des écrivains will be able to keep its literary vocation.
call for calm
For now, the priority of the new president will be to replace the many departures within the UNEQ. It is estimated that 60% of employees left the ship during the crisis, in particular the general manager, Laurent Dubois, whose successor has still not been named.
“Employees who left UNEQ mostly cited the toxic climate that resulted from the debate around contributions and the sale of the Maison des writers. In recent months, echo chambers have been created. There’s a lot of mud that got thrown around on social media. We will no longer accept that. Fortunately, I have the impression that the crisis is now a thing of the past”, indicates Pierre-Yves Villeneuve in a calm tone.
UNEQ has been in turmoil since December, when it was revealed that barely 46 people attended the general assembly where it was decided that union dues would be deducted from the income of all authors in Quebec. Under pressure, the leaders ended up calling a new vote, which resulted in a majority of “no”.