'Greetings Tribers, Have recently corresponded with somebody from another tribe on this subject. So had to do another 'search' and get increasingly specific; so possibly the subject may fit in better with this tribe. Specifically, am presently wrangling some sort of a deal to standardize and raise pay for the art models at universities and colleges. The reason for writing to you there on the West Coast being that the trolls abound on the East Coast. Bay Area Guild and Palo Alto Guild BOTH say that they want to get $30 per hr., minimum. Have heard even higher from verbatim sources, but don't go and compare this with the stinge bags of NYC or other cultural back-waters on the East Coast. They are entrenched with a scarcastic, anti-culture attitude and rarely pay over $16 an hr..

To do a FFW, have been doing the scheduling for art dpartments of numbers of 2ndarys for over 15-16 yrs.. Included Kingsboro College and Hunter College of the NYC system. Was also the treasurer of the only viable guild of NYC, the Society of Models for Art and Education.
Am still considering the whole condition to be a politicke of class and clone regulation on part of the powers that be, so have brought cases to the NYC Dpt of Labor about this. Basically from having been a former West Coast sort of cultural activist.

The down-drift of this being that some months ago, the grad assts at NYU were assisted at a labor effort. They were not going to work until they got a raise. Pay had been stale-mated at less than $20 an hr. for over 10-15 yrs.. They were organized and supported on the part of the local AFL-CIO that reps for the teachers and other staffers. They got $50 an hour, and of course, some RESPECT. So, as the negotiations were concluding, yours truly went to them with the plight of the art dept models. They were totally ABYSMALLY IGNORANT of the pay or conditions. Of course, you say to yourself, they weren't artists or other 'dept folk'.. But the difficulty has been and continues to be, that they have a genuine mis-giving about repping for the job 'cause the models are working either nude or mostly nude. They need to be really swept along with some strong opinions and that feeling of 'safety in numbers'. At present, they were acting embarrassed to even talk about the idea.

So, have been writng to models on the Internet, including the great British Guild, "R.A.M." and Iona Lynn among them, to get some support going. Possibly we could eventually write to the union with testimony and support their efforts. They do need to be 'encouraged', as obviously, they are not on the right level to even relate to the idea.

Your postings on this would be so appreciated, as am certain of the cause holding sway over the trolling and other detractors. Thank you again for corresponding and support. Deryk R. Demmer.'