Workers at Secretly Group, Secretly Distribution, Secretly Publishing, Numero Group, and Ghostly International have come together to form the Secretly Group Union.
A statement shared by the union says: "Our enthusiasm for the culture in which we work can lead to exploitation in ways endemic to the creative industries: poor wages, inadequate benefits, lack of work/life boundaries, gatekeeping that obstructs professional development, and an absence of initiatives that address systemic race and gender inequality." The note goes on to request voluntary recognition from Secretly Group partners and senior management.
Secretly Group is made up of three labels: Secretly Canadian, Jagjaguwar, and Dead Oceans. Acts such as Bright Eyes, Destroyer, Phoebe Bridgers, Slowdive and Bon Iver feature across the labels’ rosters.
Suggesting that their employers engage in "performative allyship," the group’s statement says that "is not enough when the voices of our most vulnerable employees — people of colour, women and gender non conforming staff — have become increasingly marginalised."
The union has partnered with national labour organisation OPEIU Local 174, and has called upon the partners and senior management of Secretly Group and its affiliates to voluntarily recognise the cause. You can read the union’s full mission statement here.
