I WILL be moving Motion 9 at TUC Congress on ending the “low pay/no pay” culture in the arts sector.

As a black, disabled woman and working artist, I live and breathe the experiences highlighted in the motion.

Art benefits every single person in society and yet it’s frequently perceived as a hobby and hardworking, talented and skilled artists are told by organisations and institutions that wish to benefit from their art that they don’t have a budget, or that they have a low budget, or they don’t have any money to pay but “can’t we do it anyway out of our love of art,”  as if we can live off the air we breathe and don’t have bills to pay or mouths to feed.

Artists mostly work precariously, and members of my union, the Artists Union England (AUE), are socially engaged artists with art practices which benefit communities, vulnerable people and those who are marginalised in society, as well as working in education.

Artists deserve to be paid fairly and equally for their work, to be able to cover childcare costs, to be treated with dignity and respect and to have security in older age.

In difficult times like the global pandemic, where self-employed artists were forgotten and left out in initial government plans, creative industry unions, including ours, had to campaign to be included. Even when measures were put in place they were not adequate and many artists fell through the gaps.

Our sector continues to be hit by cuts, including in education, and artists are disproportionately affected by the cost-of-living crisis we find ourselves in following the harsh realities for our sector of over a decade of austerity and the pandemic. The arts contribute billions to the economy, but despite this, most artists benefit the least financially.

All of this is amplified for working-class artists such as members of AUE and those who already face discrimination in the labour market and employment — black, women and disabled workers.

We experience institutional racism, misogyny and ableism in the arts sector.

The motion calls on the TUC and unions to campaign for an increase in public funding for the arts — as art should be for everyone and accessible to all, not just for the wealthy.

We also want to see young people wanting a career in the arts to be able to pursue this and not discard their dreams and aspirations because of cuts and discrimination. Most artists have to do at least one other job to make ends meet and usually, that work is precarious too — we are losing out on talent by not addressing these issues.

It also calls for fair and equal pay, with an end to the “no pay/low pay” attitude towards artists. We need to be paid for our labour like anybody else is paid: time, energy, materials and other costs must be paid for, not just the end product. Artists need to be valued.

On this point, the trade union movement needs to get its own house in order because it does not practice what it preaches to artists.

I have experienced this first hand, unfortunately. I have had a union ask to use my art and when I requested payment, was told that would not be appropriate to use their money to pay for art.

I have been commissioned to create art and then not been paid by the unions that commissioned it.

I have contributed my labour and money to curating art exhibitions for the union movement with no funding, no payment for my time and work and I have had art in a trade union exhibition which was subsequently lost by those curating it with no recompense.

Sometimes when I have pointed out that on principle, I cannot agree to work for free because it is crucial that as a leader of a union for artists, I also expect for myself the same standards I advocate for my members and practice what I preach for myself, I am received as someone who is greedy or troublesome.

Not all my experience has been this negative but there is this attitude of “do it for the movement” when those of us who are lay union representatives already go above and beyond in our voluntary roles, giving hours and hours of our own time.

Artists should not have to ask for payment — payment should be offered; artists asking for payment should not be made to feel guilty and treated like they are bad people.

If a union or any other organisation for that matter, hired a cleaner or an accountant, for example, they wouldn’t say to them, can’t you just do it for free out of your commitment and love for the movement?

We wouldn’t be told, we would like you to clean our eight-storey office block, but we can’t pay you, but you will have the satisfaction of everything being clean, or we want you to settle all our bills and payments and do our accounts for a month, but you must love numbers so surely you can do it for free. So why are artists treated with less respect?

The attitude towards artists by the trade union movement needs to be addressed. How will other institutions and businesses take them seriously if not?

As a lifelong committed trade unionist but also a working multidisciplinary artist, I know that we cannot be successful in campaigning for these rights for workers who are artists if we don’t have our own house in order.

If workers in the arts are to be encouraged to get involved in the trade union movement, it must be a safe, welcoming and inclusive one for them. We are stronger together as workers across sectors and we should never treat some workers as lesser than others — ever.

The cuts to the arts in education will have devastating impacts and loss of talent not being nurtured. But there are also social benefits to arts in education.

Recently I ran some drama workshops with schoolchildren and in those workshops the students created drama pieces which related to real-life experiences of racism, misogyny, poverty, stress from exams and more. Arts are a channel to vocalise and express feelings, thoughts and ideas and are essential to wellbeing.

If organisations engaging the services of and commissioning artists need guidance on what they could offer to pay artists, they can check our AUE rates of pay, setting out rates for creating art, facilitating, leading projects, exhibiting art and more on our website.

In my role as the co-chair of the Public Services International (PSI) Education Support and Culture Workers Network, I proposed and have been involved in organising a first-of-its-kind art exhibition which will take place at PSI World Congress in Geneva in October this year.

The open call for artists is on the theme of “people over profit.” Artists can submit their art electronically and PSI will print and install the art so that artists around the world do not incur the costs of printing and shipping — and yes, the artists selected will be paid for the exhibition. Go to www.mstar.link/artPSI to submit.

I would also encourage unions to sign up to our PSI manifesto for culture workers, which I authored, if they haven’t already at www.mstar.link/mani. More about it here: www.mstar.link/CultWork.

My message to readers is: let’s work together for access to the arts for all, and access to careers in the arts for all who wish to pursue them. Art can change the world if we embrace it and support the sector to demonstrate and deliver good practices and dignity for artists.

For more information on the AUE go to www.artistsunionengland.org.uk.