General secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE calls for support and participation in the national partnership organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1926 general strike
Pay for artists, not exploitation
Joint national chair of the Artists Union England ZITA HOLBOURNE argues that artists are systematically neglected when it comes to paying them for their labour

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.
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