Flying whingers

A strange day may soon dawn for commissioning editors at the Independent. When it comes, freelance journalists will turn down any commissions offered. They will have already refused to deliver copy to deadline on that day. Freelances will be on strike.

That's the hope, anyway, of the NUJ, the journo's trade union. The Indy chapel, as sub-branches are still quaintly known, is balloting members on industrial action in support of this year's pay claim. Naturally, all good trade unionists, including freelances, will not cross picket lines or do anything else that makes a strike less effective. These days, that means not filing copy or taking on work. The NUJ plans to ballot freelances about industrial action in support of the chapel and their own gripes about rates and conditions.

The question arises as to whether freelance journalists are good trade unionists. Do they believe in collective action, banding together for the good of all, even if they personally lose out in the short term?

A few do. But a lot don't. They are good at bellyaching, but not at doing much about it.

One frustrated NUJ activist has the frequent habit of referring to the Spartacus film - the famous moment of solidarity when one-by-one the slaves stand up to confront the Romans. "Imagine if all the extras in the film had been freelance NUJ members," he says. "Kirk Douglas would stand up and say 'I am Spartacus'. Tony Curtis would leap to his feet and say 'I am Spartacus'. And all the freelances would sit there moaning that their loincloths were itchy."

Les