In January 2020, VALU CO-OP’s worker members met for the founding meeting of the Arts and Cultural Workers Union (ACWU), IATSE Local B-778.

The ACWU was formed to work in solidarity with the broader labour movement to address the common issues of income precarity, exploitation, and job insecurity in the arts and cultural sector; issues with which we are all too familiar.

After a year of organizing, the 17 founding members of the ACWU voted unanimously to form a B-Local of the International Alliance of Stage and Theatrical Employees (IATSE). We chose IATSE as our union home given their expertise in representing freelance artists and technicians in the theatre, film, and entertainment industries.

In February of 2020 we were granted our union charter from the IATSE International office in New York City.

Alongside the ACWU, our founding members formed VALU CO-OP as a unionized workers cooperative to create a common place of employment. VALU CO-OP has the ability to be both practical and radical in how it addresses exploitative labour practices. We are strengthened by the support of the labour movement, and our efforts are bolstered by the support of our fellow union members in IATSE.

The ACWU is based in Vancouver and our charter covers the entire province of British Columbia. The Local currently has established units for independent visual artists, media artists, illustrators, photographers, gallery administrators, studio assistants, curators, cultural workers, freelance creative practitioners, and tattoo artists. We are currently engaged in organizing drives of non-union workers at non-profit arts organizations, independent artists, and freelance cultural workers across the province of BC. 

The ACWU has long term goals to build portable, extended benefits plans for artists and arts workers; to create an arts workers’ training program; and to represent arts and cultural sector workers across the province, and eventually across Canada.

If you are interested in organizing your workplace with the ACWU, or have any questions, please contact:

Conor Moore
ACWU President
‭(778) 668-3874‬
president@acwu.ca

ANNOUNCEMENT: Contemporary Art Gallery (CAG) votes to join ACWU

On July 28, 2020, the workers of the Contemporary Art Gallery voted unanimously to join the Art and Cultural Workers Union, IATSE Local B778. CAG staff are ardently dedicated to contemporary art, artists and the many publics and communities they engage. The unionization effort was driven by a commitment to improving the working conditions at CAG for the current team and  the many who will follow as the organisation continues to grow. The workers at CAG share a commitment to foster, enact and lead efforts towards a more vibrant and sustainable existence for the entire arts community in Vancouver. These values align with the mission of the ACWU to manifest sectoral change by prioritizing working people and their well-being throughout cultural industries. 

The ACWU, based in Vancouver, with a charter that covers the entire province of British Columbia, was formed to work in solidarity with the broader labour movement to address the common issues of income precarity, exploitation, and job insecurity in the arts and cultural sector. It is currently engaged in organizing drives of non-union workers at non-profit arts organizations, independent artists, and freelance cultural workers across the province of BC. The ACWU has long term goals to build portable, extended benefits plans for artists and arts workers; to create an arts workers’ training program; and to represent arts and cultural sector workers across the province, and eventually across Canada.

The Contemporary Art Gallery (CAG) is an independent, non-profit public art gallery and the dedication of CAG workers make it one of Canada’s leading venues for contemporary art. Offering free access to everyone, CAG works with artists from Canada and around the world to produce exhibitions, off-site projects, residencies, learning, outreach, community engagement programs, events and publications. Each of these interdependent strands of programming varies in scale, duration and location to challenge how and where we might engage with contemporary visual art. 

Negotiations are expected to commence soon, and CAG workers are looking forward to working under their first collective agreement. Other BC gallery and arts workers looking for union representation can contact ACWU IATSE B778 President Conor Moore at president@acwu.ca or by phone at (778) 668-3874‬.