At the end of a long meeting which took place on Thursday afternoon, all the members of the board of directors of the Union of Quebec Writers and Writers (UNEQ) chaired by Suzanne Aubry, have just announced his resignation.
The announcement comes two days after a stormy general assembly during which the authors rejected by a proportion of 56% the proposal of the UNEQ to collect a union contribution of 2.5% on the income of its members, and 5% over those of non-member authors.
“By rejecting this resolution, the members demonstrate a disavowal of the strategic vision carried by the board of directors of the UNEQ, writes the CA in a press release. 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 made possible by the entry into force of the new law on the status of the artist. »
UNEQ had not reacted to the result since Wednesday. During the meeting, the general manager, Laurent Dubois, had insisted on the importance of this source of income “to carry out the negotiations and to compensate for a structural deficit, financed by reserves which melt from year to year”, had reported The Press.
Since the adoption of the Status of the Artist Act, the UNEQ has the mandate to represent authors until 2025 and to negotiate collective agreements with publishers. UNEQ thus hopes to improve the working conditions and remuneration of authors. Without contributions, the resources of the UNEQ are of course limited, even if during this same assembly the 550 members gathered on Zoom voted by a narrow majority of 14 votes in favor of the sale of the Maison des écrivains.
“In planning an extraordinary general assembly at the end of March, the board of directors voluntarily left time for those who were not members to become members, thus offering them the opportunity to engage in the debate. and to express their voice by voting, declared in a press release the president Suzanne Aubry, who will leave her post. Although we deplore the violence of certain remarks made in recent months on social networks or in private exchanges, we can be delighted by the mobilization of the authors during this historic meeting, which testifies to the interest to these issues. »
The resignation of the seven directors will take effect at the next annual general meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 31.
“The seven positions of administrators and administrators will therefore be to be filled, wrote the members of the Board. The general manager, in his role as corporate secretary, was asked to proceed quickly with a call for candidates in compliance with the statutes and regulations of the association. Until then, the board of directors will remain in place and will continue to administer the UNEQ in order to guarantee its proper functioning. »