Published on: Wednesday June 4, 2025

This week the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) published a damning new report Freelance and Forgotten, based on testimonies from over 800 creative workers, including WGGB members. It exposes the widespread exploitation of freelance workers in the creative industries in Scotland and paints a picture of the poor and precarious working conditions writers and other freelancers are facing across the sector.

Key findings include:

  • 69% of respondents experiencing late payment for work – some waiting up to 15 months.
  • 33% not being paid at all for freelance work they have delivered.
  • 53% witnessing or experiencing bullying, harassment, or sexual harassment.
  • 83% seeing a real-terms fall in income in recent years.
  • Only 6% of workers describe their conditions as “good.”

Recommendations include:

  • Establishing minimum standards and conditions for all freelance contracts.
  • Giving Creative Scotland a mandate to monitor and enforce Fair Work practices.
  • Requiring employers and publicly funded bodies to adopt the Fair Work for Freelancers Checklist.
  • Recognising trade unions – not staff forums – as the legitimate voice of workers in the sector.

The report also calls for employers and funding organisations to agree to adopt the Fair Work for Freelancers checklist outlined in the report and to work with affiliated unions including WGGB to co-create Fair Work agreements.

WGGB General Secretary Ellie Peers said: “WGGB and our freelance members are all too aware of the poor practice that is highlighted in the STUC report Freelance & Forgotten. The report is an important step in raising awareness of worker exploitation in Scotland’s creative industries and a call for action on Fair Work for Freelancers that we support.”

Thank you to our members who took part in the STUC survey earlier this year.

What we’re doing, what you can do and how to get support

WGGB is pushing at every opportunity to make creative work pay. We negotiate national agreements with organisations that commission writers, setting out minimum terms on pay and conditions. The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to make sure you’re being engaged on a WGGB contract. Our rates and agreements can be found here.

If you have any issues with fees not being paid on time, bullying and harassment, or contractual terms not being kept to, you can contact the casework team by email at casework@writersguild.org.uk for advice and support.

WGGB is campaigning with the STUC on fair work, and other issues that affect writers, and we bring these issues regularly to the Scottish Government via our lobbying work.

We have recently launched a call for evidence into free work – if you have been asked to work for free in the past year, we want to hear about your experiences.

WGGB’s Scotland Chair will be up for election in the run up to our AGM this year – if you’re interested in standing for that role, or getting involved with our Scotland Committee, email joe@writersguild.org.uk

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