I read with amusement the story in the Globe And Mail about “a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labour union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.”
Reaction to this includes Balbulican at Stageleft who writes ” As far as I’m concerned, and for reasons that really shouldn’t need to be explained, bloggers need a union like bloggers need a third armpit” and Greg Farries at The Politic: “Dumbest idea ever.”
Well, I likely won’t be joining any “Bloggers Union.” However, I see no problem if some bloggers want to form some kind of association and possibly obtain group insurance rates. Who they would ever attempt “collective bargaining” with is odd, unless they mean advertising providers like Google Ads. I thing Google Ads would probably have a good laugh though as I don’t think Google Ads needs to depend on bloggers to server up their ads.
Perhaps some think that bloggers “deserve” an income from their blogging from the tax payers? I don’t know.
It may surprise some to discover that I don’t have any problems with folks that want to form “unions.” Go ahead. Just don’t try to coerce me into forking over dues to an organization I want nothing to do with. Hey, if you can get better insurance rates for your members, all the more power to you! There are a number of professional organizations that offer this service of locating discount rates for their members. I haven’t done any research on the matter, but it’s likely there are already such organizations that exist that some bloggers might qualify for membership.
I also don’t have any problems with membership in such organizations requiring members to meet some sort of criteria deemed by the association to be acceptable for membership inclusion. However, what would really concern me would be if some legislative “authority” decided to censor non-members and base further rules and regulations upon some membership in some organization.
And this part I think especially funny: “set professional standards?” Since when is blogging considered a “profession?” Blogging is the excercise of expressing oneself. The only “standard” needed is recognition of the inherent right to expression of all individuals.
I doubt that will be the “standard” though, of any “bloggerhood” or association.
I laughed when I read the story. Like any union or association, there needs to be someone to do the actual administering. That means a payroll which, in turn, means that membership dues need to be paid to cover the costs. Would those dues offset the savings of the group insurance plan?
balbulican is much too cultured for third armpit cracks – I’m the crude one 🙂
I’m sorry… but who exactly is the blogging “management” that we’ll have to be striking against? 🙂
Dumbest.Idea.Ever.
Oddly though, it has Ian, me, Stageleft, James Bow and Richard Evans all agreeing.
Must be a sign of the apocalypse. Or a sign that is it truly and horrendously stupid idea. Perhaps both.
Course if the taxpayers were forced to give me 80k/yr to put a few posts up Should I hold a gun to their head?
This is mental! Almost as bad as nation wide daycare for a few of the same reasons.
“set professional standards?”
Right.
>big laugh
“set professional standards”
I think they hope to filter right wing opinion.
Oh wait theres a conservative in power better shut Rabble, their standards are to low.