Wanting ahead to Giving Tuesday on November 28 and a fundraising bash on December 1, government director Rafael Espinal highlights how the Freelancers Union helps to form the way forward for work for everybody.
Freelancing is greater than a solitary endeavor—it is about being a part of a energetic neighborhood that transcends industries. Rafael Espinal, Government Director of Freelancers Union, joins us to share particulars concerning the nonprofit org’s upcoming fundraiser social gathering in Bushwick on December 1, the importance of Giving Tuesday on November 28, and the way the Freelancers Union is influencing the way forward for freelancing and the workforce as a complete.
Whether or not it’s $5 or $100, on or earlier than November 28, each donation counts. To point out our appreciation, we’re providing discounted social gathering tickets to our greatest occasion of the yr with code “FUMEMBER.”
CC: Rafael, as we strategy Giving Tuesday, might you share why it is essential for freelancers and their allies to contribute to the Freelancers Union?
RE: Giving Tuesday is a pivotal day for us. As an advocacy group for freelancers, we offer sources, curated data, and advocacy with out charging any charges. Members pay zero dues. It is a day for members—and for everybody who needs to help artistic and impartial employees—to provide again by way of tax-deductible donations, making certain that we are able to proceed to help freelancers of their journey and advocate for the groundbreaking Freelancing Isn’t Free Act (FIFA) throughout the nation.
CC: Freelancers Union operates with a small however mighty staff. Are you able to make clear its dimension and effectivity?
RE: We’re a staff of about seven administrators, every dealing with a vital function, from member advantages to advocacy. Each dollar donated helps us preserve our effectivity, ease the workload, and doubtlessly make new hires to raised help freelancers. There’s quite a lot of work that occurs within the background to curate companions and sources with freelancers’ greatest pursuits in thoughts. We do every thing we are able to to make sure that you will have the instruments it is advisable succeed as a freelancer.
CC: How does Freelancers Union lengthen its advantages past freelancers, reaching even these in conventional nine-to-five jobs?
RE: Our focus is on bettering the standard of life for freelancers, and by doing so, we’re enhancing circumstances for the complete workforce. Throughout the pandemic particularly, we noticed the hurdles that freelancers face, primarily the shortage of fundamental rights and advantages. Supporting us means advocating for the better good of all employees. A rising tide lifts all boats, as they are saying. We battle to make sure that all folks have the fundamental proper to healthcare and the fundamental proper to advantages they should shield themselves within the case that they are out of labor. Highlighting the plight of the freelancer additionally highlights the plight of so many employees in our nation.
CC: There’s quite a lot of buzz round inexpensive healthcare, however “inexpensive” is a relative time period. Sticker shock at the price of medical insurance plans is a actuality for a lot of freelancers. How does the Freelancers Union navigate this problem for its members?
RE: Healthcare prices are regulated by federal legal guidelines, and lots has modified beneath the Reasonably priced Care Act. Earlier than it handed in 2010, Freelancers Union had its personal medical insurance firm with group charges for impartial employees. Present laws don’t permit for that. Long term, we help advocacy round Medicare for All, a single-payer well being care system with complete advantages for everybody in the USA. Within the meantime, we work inside present bounds to determine probably the most inexpensive insurance policy.
Our purpose is to alleviate freelancers from the burden of navigating the market by curating the most effective choices accessible. We’re additionally exploring artistic options, like our current partnership with Galileo. Their telehealth companies provide 24/7 entry to a health care provider with zero copays or charges. There’s additionally an choice so as to add on a advantages package deal with discounted prescription imaginative and prescient and dental, at a value of $300 for the complete yr. Damaged down month-to-month, for about $20 to $25 a month, you’ll be able to entry a health care provider and get discounted prescriptions, imaginative and prescient, and dental as should you had insurance coverage.
CC: Wanting ahead to the December 1 social gathering in help of Freelancers Union, I ponder the way you create a unifying expertise for such a various neighborhood?
RE: Freelancers come from totally different fields, however the frequent thread is independence. The fundraiser is a celebration of this unity and cross-pollination, a recognition of freelancers as an important a part of the economic system. It is an off-the-cuff occasion— a enjoyable social gathering at Sleepwalk in Bushwick, organized by the artistic company Advert Hoc Tasks. In addition they work with companions like Pitchfork, Pioneer Works, and Grownup Swim on artistic technique and occasion manufacturing, and so they co-launched the nonprofit NYC Nightlife United to maintain and advocate for nightlife employees through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sleepwalk venue is cool—a cocktail bar slash efficiency area. Kristine Barilli, a New York-based resident at Lot Radio and former Music Director at Public Information, will DJ. It is a tremendous informal occasion, with meals, drinks, a particular raffle, and the chance for freelancers to community. You possibly can entry discounted social gathering tickets with code “FUMEMBER.” Come have time on a Friday evening, and present our energy in numbers!