Focus on fair pay at well-attended Platform ACCT event ‘a fair practice’

Photo: Piet Douma

On Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, the annual Platform ACCT event focused on improving working conditions and making collective agreements in the cultural and creative sector. During the event at Schouwburg Odeon in Zwolle, program manager Noud van de Rhee presented to the more than 150 attendees the program fairPACCT, in which the implementation of the Fair Practice Code will be worked on concretely until the end of 2024 with workers and workers from the various subsectors.

Put the creator first and collaborate

After a welcome by chairman of the day Mounir Samuel, Koen van Seuren of Collective Antiklimax shares a personal story about his experiences as a maker in recent years. He puts the question of how young creators can finance their further development and how we can achieve fair pay to State Secretary of Culture and Media Gunay Uslu. She shares his concern and indicates that putting creators and workers at the center alongside accessibility, libraries and cultural education are her priorities for the coming years. Platform ACCT board chair Irene Asscher-Vonk closes the plenary with an appeal to the sector to take initiatives to reach agreements themselves and seek cooperation. She emphasized that collectivity is necessary to move forward. Platform ACCT facilitates and creates conditions, the sector has to do it.

fairPACCT works to apply Fair Practice Code in practice

In November 2021, Platform ACCT launched a three-year program to promote collective agreements on better working conditions within various subsectors in the cultural and creative sector. The program team of fairPACCT consists of program manager Noud van de Rhee and program secretary Lydia Jongmans. Working closely with stakeholders from subsectors, they have set up chain tables with the goal of achieving better working conditions and collective agreements. The starting point is to translate the Fair Practice Code into concrete tools for application in practice.

The knowledge gained will be secured and shared with the broad creative and cultural sector. The program is funded by the Ministry of OCW. Currently, chain tables are running in the sectors music (pop and classical), archaeology, film/av production, cultural education and amateur art and literary festivals. Freelance marketing and communication professionals in culture are also talking to each other about fees. Tables are being prepared for professional photographers and designers. Want to know more about the program and the chain tables? Then check out our website.

“From agreements on fair pay and revenue models to securing future guidelines.”

Look at chain tables and open conversation about fair pay

After the networking lunch, participants were able to meet chain tables from various subsectors. Those involved in the chain tables from amateur art & cultural education, archaeology, literary festivals, pop music and film/av gave insight into the topics they discuss and the issues involved, from agreements on fair pay and earning models to securing future guidelines.

Those involved in the chain tables indicated that it helps enormously now that, on the initiative of Platform ACCT, discussions on fair pay are taking place with broad representation for the first time. As a result, concrete steps can really be taken together.

In addition to the various chain tables, an open discussion on fair pay took place, where attendees in the room could exchange thoughts with each other and with panelists Berend Schans (director VNPF), Rita Zapora (BAM! Pop Authors), Jenny Booms (Dutch Academy for Film) and Suzanne Henning (DuPho). Led by moderator Mounir Samuel, a lively discussion ensued about the degree of non-commitment of fair practice, the responsibility and role of the government and institutions/makers themselves, as well as transparency and funding.

Practices/Appointments