Model Alliance to Join Amazon Labor Union Pres. Chris Smalls to Rally on Labor Day

NEW YORK, NY (09/02/2022) (readMedia)-- On Labor Day, the Model Alliance will join Amazon Labor Union President Chris Smalls for a rally in Times Square. Kicking off Fashion Month, the City will soon host its semiannual New York Fashion Week, which generates close to $600M annually while fashion workers lack basic labor protections in the state. The Fashion Workers Act – which passed the Senate Labor Committee before the State Legislative session ended earlier this year – is a piece of pro-labor legislation that would regulate predatory management agencies that currently operate without oversight.

The rally begins in Times Square at 3PM – details available here.

"It's unacceptable that the creative workforce behind the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry still lacks basic protections in the State that gave birth to the American labor movement. New York derives huge benefit off the backs of young women and girls indentured to predatory management agencies. And it's not only models who experience these injustices – makeup artists, hairstylists and others who work behind-the-scenes also lack basic protections. We're glad to have the support of Chris Smalls – a once in a generation leader who has taken on seemingly unslayable monsters – as we organize our industry to fight for the rights of all fashion workers," said Sara Ziff, founder and executive director of the Model Alliance.

Unlike talent agencies, modeling and creative agencies are considered to be management companies under New York State General Business Law §171(8), known as the "incidental booking exception," allowing them to escape licensing and regulation. In almost every case, agencies are granted "power of attorney" as part of their agreement to represent talent, giving agencies power to accept payments on behalf of the model, deposit checks and deduct expenses, as well as book jobs, negotiate the model's rate of pay, and give third parties permission to use the model's image. Models and creatives often wait months, even years to get paid for jobs through management companies, which deduct various unexplained fees from their earnings, on top of a hefty 20 percent commission on the model's fee. Management companies also charge typically a 20 percent service fee on the client's payment, making the commission taken out of a model's earnings even more extortionate. By contrast, talent agencies can legally only take a 10 percent commission from talent and no service fee. Additionally, model management companies crowd young models in model apartments, where they warehouse anywhere from six to 10 young women in one apartment and charge them each upwards of $2,000 a month for an apartment worth far less. While management companies hold models and creatives to exclusive, multi-year contracts and sponsor their work visas, they insist they have no obligation to book jobs, which ensnares them in cycles of debt and makes these workers highly vulnerable to other forms of abuse, including human trafficking.

The Fashion Workers Act would require management agencies to:

• Accept responsibility to act in the best interests of their talent
• Pay models and creatives within 45 days of completing a job
• Provide models and creatives with copies of contracts and agreements
• Notify former models and creatives if the management collects royalties from a talent they no longer represent
• Register and deposit a surety bond of $50,000 with the NYS Department of State
• Conduct reasonable inquiry into health and safety on set

Discontinue bad practices such as

• Collecting signing fees or deposits from models
• Charging more than the daily fair market rate for accommodation
• Deducting any other fee or expense than the agreed upon commission
• Renewing the contract without the model or creative's affirmative consent
• Imposing a commission fee greater than twenty percent of the model or creative's compensation
• Forbid the management company from taking retaliatory action against any model or creative using the bill to file a complaint
• Forbid the management company or client from engaging in discrimination or harassment any kind against talent on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other legally permissible categories under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as amended

About the Model Alliance

Founded in 2012, the Model Alliance has been at the forefront of advancing labor rights in the fashion industry for the last decade. Through strategic research, policy initiatives, and campaigns, the Model Alliance aims to promote fair treatment, equal opportunity, and more sustainable practices in the fashion industry, from the runway to the factory floor. The Model Alliance has championed multiple pieces of legislation, including the Child Model Act in New York and the Talent Protections Act in California. The organization also runs the world's only industry-specific support line, MA Support. In 2021, the organization received the first Positive Social Influence Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America at the CFDA Awards.