Saturday, August 17, 2019

A More Perfect Union?

It was bound to happen, given the utter lack of organization amongst the digital content creator class. Someone was going to have the bright idea and, more importantly, the ability to make the essential connections necessary to begin creation (there's that word again) of an effort to counter the often arbitrary (when not outright malicious) seeming behavior of the digital content viewing platforms. Right now it's You Tube under the gun, but Facebook and Twitter to name only two others can expect their turn soon enough. As of now the You Tube Union is mostly vaporware (and with that being so, I hereby suggest that the final name of such an organization be: The Creatives Union - there are more than just creators involved after all). There is a negotiated affiliation with IG Metall, advertised to be the single largest labor union in all of Europe, and there are efforts underway to bring You Tube management to the bargaining table, but beyond that little can be known as little has been accomplished in the copious spare seconds that remain. Yet. Now is the time for we the membership to speculate on what and how those expected accomplishments might take shape.

In traditional form, labor unions have an international level of organization for dealing with labor issues having origin in international agreements and organisations, and a You Tube Union (hereafter: YTU) necessarily would require the same given the (for now at least merely) planetary scope of its potential membership (looking right at you Elon Musk). Below that (or as an integrated component of the international part in a better designed organizational structure) is the national level of union representation of its membership. It has to be acknowledged that national governments are the only entities that have the inherent infrastructure (legal, financial and otherwise) to enforce their declarations at the lawful point of a gun; international agencies and organizations all derive whatever authority they claim as a result of treaties negotiated between nation states delegating such authority to them. This is why I insist that a well organized union considers national and international representation of its members to be one single level of union management, since "international law" is really just a hodge podge of convoluted, and surprisingly often actually contradictory, treaties between nations that are frequently being enforced by a third party (all of whom famously have their own set of priorities to bring to any negotiating table). The primary theater of contention for even the most expansive union has to be structured around successfully representing the individual membership within the constraints of the legal code in force in the jurisdiction of the nation state (levels within levels here) the individual members live and work in; international (and presumably extra-planetary) agreements between nations (and others) are, as a practical matter, enforced within the legal codes of the nations involved.

Beyond the "upper" management level, there is the Local. There are a variety of forms and functions associated with the phrase "the union local", but certainly one of those has to be organization. Any unions primary membership recruitment effort simply has to be centered around the various union Local offices, but now is not too soon to begin developing the necessary standards and practices guidance for stewards along with the membership information necessary for members to understand what they and their union can and can't expect of each other. In a traditional union arrangement, these offices are as close to the membership's place(s) of work as can be arranged; sometimes this is across the street from a factory, sometimes it's a centrally located address within a given geographical setting like a city or county, for instance. For a union serving a membership that "works" in a digital environment (in quotes only because that's where the product of so much labor appears to the critical other half of the membership), there will have to be a blend of the meat space aspect with the cyber space components. So to speak. I suggest a YTU Local might best consist of an online portal that principally provides a means of contact to one or more Stewards living and working in an identified geographical region, along with a business contact for the union office itself (even virtual offices have bills to pay and services to arrange for). Knowing where to identify who "your" Steward is and making contact with him/her (I ain't playing the pronoun game, this is complex enough) (now you know why I was considered a competent but not especially "good" steward myself :)) must be considered of primary importance in the design of any such web page. Advertising links and Local announcements would have their place too. Education is always a part of any good union; once again, now is the time for we the members to begin identifying what we want.

Another activity centered around a union Local office is that of "initial representation". Any member of a union is, by simple dint of membership, entitled to representation at need. This isn't always a union steward or representative jumping into a conflict between a member and some low-level member of company management (upper levels of company management start with the Arbitrators who, if they aren't trained lawyers themselves are accompanied by same, and who are the intervening level between the Stewards and the National/International level of union leadership); indeed, most frequently this involves being available to give advice and specific counsel to a member prior to a conflict arising, thus the common title given to Local union officers of "Steward" - that individual entrusted with the primary duty of providing good stewardship to the membership.

It simply has to be acknowledged here that often as not said good stewardship requires "counselling" said member out of being an idiot - if you can simultaneously convince them this is all their own idea, you're a very good steward.

Union Stewards have to be sufficient in number to assure availability to individual member's need, while not being an unnecessary financial burden on the membership (what? you didn't think this was all paid for by the "good steward fairy" did you? I didn't make a big deal about it above, but the primary duty of international management is to make sure everybody stays "paid in full" on the membership dues front; never think otherwise). The YTU doesn't have sufficient structure to even ask for dues yet, but never doubt that day is approaching as rapidly as can be contrived. And the sooner the better; without the financial means provided by membership dues there can be no legal representation aspect to membership representation during on-going negotiations with You Tube management, for only one example (lawyers are good people too - stop laughing! - but human generosity has its limits and being able to feed one's family is one of the more common and earlier limits known). My daughter has an MBA and my daughter-in-law is an accountant; both of them earn their living counting Other People's Money, and unions need to be able to pay people to do that too - not least in the role of Forensic Accountant of opposition company financial claims. Dues are coming, so now is the time to begin deciding what specifically you want in exchange.

So, examples of how all of this might take place in the future are limited only by the imaginations of You Tube creatives, but here are a couple examples that I as a member of the YTU can think of.

Podcasters don't necessarily also have You Tube channels, but many do and Joe Rogan has to be considered one of the most successful of those who do both. Film and television actor, stand-up comedian, ringside fight commentator for UFC and creator and host of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and The JRE You Tube channel, the expression "Joe Rogan money" by rights ought to be much more commonly used by others than is actually the case, so it can be fairly said that of all the potential members for a YTU he is seemingly the one least in need of representation - obviously, he's doing alright all on his own. And Well Done to him for it; hard work deserves what it earns. Conversely, he is also the one You Tube creator who is most likely to want to be a member. Joe Rogan has made the point numerous times on the JRE podcast that he goes to considerable lengths to support up-and-comers in the stand-up comedy business - all of whom are arguably his professional competition. He does so "to grow the stand up world, and add to the list of people I can have fun with" or words to that effect. YT creator channels don't provide quite the same degree of spontaneity or personal contact that stand-up comedy seems to, but all of the other elements of professional growth and camaraderie seem to be present. If anyone is institutionally inclined to developing and supporting an organization that develops and supports people much like himself, that person has to be Joe Rogan. I'm not talking money here; yes, Joe Rogan can easily afford any annual dues any other content creator on You Tube can. What he can't do is afford is to fight alone against the mob come the day Kevin Smith and the Hollywood Vegan Mafia come after him at You Tube HQ over his hunting content or some other gaggle of special snowflakes people begin an organized rant about his "violent martial arts" content (and I'm only being slightly facetious here - since recovering from his heart attack last year, what began out of respect for his daughter's vegan beliefs regarding health benefits appears to have lately become something substantially else). Best wishes to Kevin Smith for his continued recovery of health and growth as a digital creator, but it's called "the dark side" for good reason and we're watching. As for Joe Rogan, any serious martial arts student understands the practical utility of allies, and if he is anything Joe Rogan is a martial artist.

Along with membership dues, YTU membership ought to provide organization, and not just in the Saul Alinsky model (although some of that will be involved too). There are several You Tube channels I watch regularly, among them the following three (four? not sure how to count this one): SRKCycles along with their second channel Bikes and Beards, Dr. Brent Binder's channel Chiropractic Medicine, and a really innovative channel featuring The Philadelphia Barber Co.'s Andy Fischer (among others) Beardbrand.

SRK Cycles buys and sells used motorcycles, and all the partners wear beards and still have full heads of hair. Now unlike driving a car, you have to ride a motorcycle and this involves using - and occasionally overusing -  its own set of muscles. Dr. Brent Binders office in Harrisburg PA seemingly isn't far from the SRK location, so arranging for both to create videos involving each other's respective audiences in their mutual experience of each other areas of expertise would seem a natural benefit for a YTU Steward to organize. If some is good, more is better amirite? Andy Fischer's barber chair is in Philadelphia, only a short drive down the highway from both of the other two PA-based You Tubers. The SRK guys need haircuts and beard trims periodically, Andy clearly needs to get away from that damn train; admittedly, Dr. Brent is going to pose a professional challenge for her, but he usually does wear a beard, so there is that for her to work with. Now our YTU steward has organized three distinct audiences into mutual appreciation (or at least awareness) of channels involving activities they might not otherwise ever come in contact with. YTU can further assist by providing the means to track distinct audience participation in cross-over channel efforts. By providing each channel with a code to include when audience members buying anything off any of the other participating channels, a percentage of the proceeds can be applied to the originating channel's coffers (with maybe a small taste to the YTU's as-yet hypothetical deep pockets?). This is a sale that couldn't otherwise be expected, and there may be advantages to be had through each channel's marketing budget come tax time (the sort of advice and counsel unions famously offer as member benefits - usually in the form of links to businesses like Turbo Tax, but you get the idea) (is there a tax preparation website for businesses like digital content creators? No idea).

There is a particular digital content creative market that I want to suggest we begin work to recruit into our union, Porn Hub (and you're going to have to provide your own link here :)). If there is any single player in the digital content creation market that is more secure from outside attacks to inhibit (never mind remove) it's individual content creators product than Porn Hub is, I can't think of it. It would be necessary to make sure that Porn Hub's more usual content isn't available to the YTU general membership (except in the established way, of course), but a partnership with Porn Hub would provide YTU content creators with a product outlet immune to the types of attacks and censorship those makers of icky gun content, hunting content, violent content, and quilting!?! content find themselves subjected to on You Tube currently. Members of a Creatives Union would probably always find it useful to continue publishing their content on You Tube, along with the other alternative sites, but having a fundamentally secure site like Porn Hub can provide is seemingly an option any union worth the name ought to vigorously investigate.

There are so many possibilities before us and now is the time for we members of the nascent You Tube Union to make our hopes and desires known and otherwise become involved in growing and developing our union. Will you join me in campaigning to ultimately change the name to The Creatives Union? What do you want to see from your union membership? I'm pretty sure it still works, so feel free to comment below.

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