The following is a guest post by Mark Avo.
With the somewhat mixed sentiment of social media as a barometer it appears there is more positive support for the newly formed Comic Book Workers United (CBWU) union than negative. The conversation for the union, and unions like it, has a long history. This particular group of people are starting their union as workers/laborers for Image Comics. Image Comics has a history and early sentiment of supporting comic book creators and their creations. The company was founded by Marvel Comics creators in 1992 as a reaction to, what was seen by them at the time, unfair treatment by major comic book publishers DC and Marvel Comics. Those founders wanted more rights for comic book creators and the CBWU is a natural progression from that inceptive idea from the founders of Image Comics. A sentiment straight out of the CBWU’s formation announcement, “In the early stages of organizing, we looked to Image’s founders for inspiration.”
In an age with waning sales for large house titles from Marvel and DC comics, there is a perception that the comic book industry is dying. With numerous television shows being tied to or inspired from comic books written in the last 20 years, many of those independent titles, it’s easy to assume the best path forward for many in the comics industry is outside the comics industry. It is that very nature of jumping an IP from one media to another though, along with a strong historical love of a tight community for the comic book medium, that disagrees with the death of comic books and graphic novels. If the industry is to survive it will need a strong publishing and distribution network, not just talented artists, writers, creators, inkers, letterers, colorists etc. The talent and efforts of a comic book are often in the editing and the marketing, the sales and the numerous teams that support the product from the top down. Represented by another sentiment straight out of their formation announcement, “Our labor is integral to the comic book industry. It requires specialized skills, dedication, and makes quality publishing possible.”
Similarities to the movie industry can easily be drawn in that movies are extremely hard to make on one’s own. The CBWU hopes to ensure the comic book industry is a market that works for everyone so that it can remain healthy and attractive to talented people with skills and contributions to the entire process of making comic books.
Their stated goals are listed below.
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To foster a more competitive industry as a whole, through salary and workload transparency for all existing and proposed job titles. Employees industry-wide should know what they and their peers are working for and what they can expect from future employment.
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Improve staff morale through annual staff and management reviews to assess performance, workload, and whether there is a clear need to expand a department, craft a new role, or increase compensation for employees who have taken on a larger quantity or more complex suite of tasks.
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The creation of a more transparent company culture through monthly all-hands meetings, so all staff can better understand both the current and future priorities, responsibilities, and workloads of other departments.
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Increase knowledge retention through the implementation of detailed record keeping and procedure documentation for all tasks deemed essential to any given role. These documents are to include detailed and explicit descriptions and instructions for all expected job duties.
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Improve career mobility for all staff through stricter adherence to the company’s stated intent to offer open positions up to qualified existing employees prior to opening them up to the public.
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The continuation of remote work for any employee who requests it and the creation of a detailed policy outlining how the company provides reasonable accommodations and supplies for remote employees. The pandemic has removed the necessity for the company to pay for a central office space, utilities, etc. With employees in some cases now shouldering one hundred percent of costs that should be shared by the employer, costs such as internet, power, furnishings and other office supplies, computer hardware and related maintenance costs to work from their own personal devices, the company must outline an equitable arrangement for sharing a reasonable percentage of those costs.
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Better overall product through the immediate addition of staff, particularly in Production and Marketing departments. Our creators, retailers, and readers can expect white glove attention for all the books we publish; books which will go to press with fewer errors, fewer delays, and a more robust marketing presence due to a more strategic approach to staffing, in reasonable proportion to the actual quantity of output we generate.
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A long term, actionable plan to address the overall lack of diversity in both general staff and management. The authors, artists, and readers who bring comics to life have never been homogenous and the stories we publish can only be improved by staffing our organization in a way that more accurately reflects the demographics of our creators, our readership, and the nation as a whole.
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Renewed commitment to company values through the addition of a collective voting option to immediately cancel publication of any title whose creator(s) have been found to have engaged in abuse, sexual assault, racism and xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ableism, etc. until such time as said creators have engaged in meaningful reparations toward affected person(s).
They’ve also included a call to action for fans to join them in a show of support not just for the creators at Image, but comic book creators everywhere. You can find more information, and sign their letter of support, at the CBWU site.