The entire executive board of the Union of Writers and Writers of Quebec (UNEQ) is announcing its resignation, two days after a chaotic general assembly at which union members refused to pay it a dues.
“By rejecting this resolution, members are demonstrating a disavowal of the UNEQ Board’s strategic vision,” said a press release issued on Friday after 36 hours of radio silence.
UNEQ wanted to charge a fee of 2.5% on the income of its members and 5% on the income of non-member authors. After a General Assembly marked by long, cacophonous debates, members rejected the proposal by almost 56%. They are said to have voted 40% in favour. Almost 4% of the 443 people who were still connected at the time of the vote abstained.
However, the outgoing president, Suzanne Aubry, insisted on reiterating on Friday that she still believes authors’ unionization is necessary to secure better terms from publishers. “The board members remain convinced of the absolute necessity of jointly negotiating minimum conditions for literary artists. It’s up to a new team of elected officials to come up with another proposal to achieve this long-awaited goal for decades,” she said.
His resignation, like that of the other six board members, will take effect on May 31. According to the press release, Director General Laurent Dubois, who was also sharply criticized in the contribution debate, will remain in office.
Endless saga
Since the passage of the new artist status law last year, UNEQ has been empowered to levy union dues on authors’ income. Most importantly, this sweeping reform gave her a mandate to represent all Quebec authors, members and non-members, equally through 2025. Previously, authors negotiated their contract individually with their publisher.
Negotiations have already begun with the two main publishers’ associations, the National Association of Book Publishers (ANEL) and the Sodides Group (Quebecor). To hold those talks, UNEQ said it needed additional revenue, hence the desire to set up contributions.
To replenish its coffers, UNEQ has also decided to sell its historic headquarters, the Maison des écrivains, near Place Saint-Louis. Another controversial decision, but nonetheless approved at Wednesday’s Extraordinary General Meeting. However, the syndicate gives itself 18 months to hand it over to a new buyer committed to continuing the house’s literary vocation. If at the end of this moratorium no literary-related project is found to occupy the premises, the ancestral home will be put up for sale on the market.
However, the slim majority of 14 votes to sell the house is questioned by some, while the vote was marred by several technical issues.
UNEQ, which now has 1,800 members, has been challenged for several months by several authors who, among other things, accuse it of amateurishness. Keep in mind that the decision to impose fees on all Quebec authors was originally approved after a shareholders’ meeting attended by only 46 people. UNEQ had eventually reversed its decision by agreeing to organize a new General Assembly, but its position on post-merit contributions had remained the same.