This event will be led by Maddy Pledge and Maxi Smith, joint secretaries of Artists’ Union England and co-organisers of Industria. Developed from knowledge and insights gathered through their work with Industria and Artists’ Union England, the workshop will combine practical advice on artists’ pay and working conditions with space for discussion around the issues artists face, while collectively imagining alternatives. The session will build an overview of the possibilities for artists’ unions and broader artist and art worker organising.

Join us to:

• Meet other local artists and organisers who could become future collaborators and part of your support network
• Learn how to write and read contracts that protect your work and ideas, with helpful resources and guides on invoicing, contracts, and self-employment in the creative industries
• Get real-life examples of how to calculate or negotiate fair pay for different types of creative work — including examples from AUE of successful outcomes
• Connect with union reps face-to-face who can offer direct advice if you're experiencing issues at work or need support
• Access the latest research and resources, and hear how AUE is campaigning for artists’ rights

Artists’ Union England is a trade union for visual and applied artists, and artists with a socially engaged practice who are working in England. Launched in 2014, AUE gained its formal status as a trade union in 2016, and has been a member of the TUC and GFTU since then. AUE started as the idea of three artists, launched with 12 founding members, and as of June 2025 has over 2000 members.

Industria is an artist-run organisation, examining and challenging the current conditions of the ‘art world’. Recent work includes Structurally F–cked, an inquiry into Artists pay and conditions in the public sector that was commissioned by a-n and published in 2023, and most recently From ‘Hand to Mouth’ to Bread and Roses, an inquiry into the lives of the Artists’ Union England membership and the role of contemporary artists’ unions in building grassroots power in the arts, published by Artists’ Union England in 2025.

Getting here

This session is taking place in The Lab. When you arrive at FACT, please let a member of our Front of House team know that you're here for this session. They'll accompany you to the lift and help you enter a code that will take you up to the third floor of the building.