In the new economy of the 21st century, it’s become commonplace to note that workers will switch jobs multiple times in their careers and that globalization is changing the nature of work. The most extreme example might be freelancers -- skilled workers who are unattached to any particular company and work on projects as they come. They're as mobile as a mobile workforce gets. But today's social contract can't meet their needs. Our system of "benefits for workers, provided by business" was a bargain struck in Franklin Roosevelt’s time. It makes no sense in a dynamic world of globalization, as any freelancer will tell you. So what can a freelancer do? Enter Sara Horowitz, the founder of the Freelancers Union.

As the New York Times reported:

Sara Horowitz has figured out a way to bring together tens of thousands of freelancers — Web designers, video editors, writers, dancers and graphic artists — into a thriving organization.

Ms. Horowitz has founded the Freelancers Union, offering members lower-cost health coverage and other benefits that many freelancers often have a hard time getting.

 

. . .

 

“These workers are the backbone for so many industries vital to our nation’s economy — I.T., financial services, the arts, advertising and publishing,” she said. “Yet these same workers are not afforded simple job protections or a social safety net.”

 

By creating a new type of union for nontraditional workers, Ms. Horowitz hopes to help revive the labor movement. Its membership has slipped to just 7.4 percent of the private-sector work force, down from one-third in 1960.

 

Unlike traditional unions, the Freelancers Union has no intention of bargaining with employers. Still, Ms. Horowitz says her group’s main goal is identical to that of all unions — providing mutual aid, in this case health benefits, to their members.

So far, she’s made good progress: 40,000 signed up in New York; she plans to get another 20 million around the country. And the Union is hoping to offer health benefits in 10 states by year’s end.

You can find out more from the Freelancers Union website.