Creative & cultural Trade Unions

Creative and cultural trade unions for Scottish creative practitioners and cultural professionals. This list is of unions in Scotland and the UK.

Joining a trade union that aligns with your creative practice can be an important and helpful step in strengthening your professional career, and your voice helps to build and improve the wider creative and cultural sector. Unions provide collective representation, ensuring that artists, performers, and creative workers have a strong voice and representation at a strategic level when it comes to fair pay, safe working conditions, contracts, and professional rights. They also offer practical benefits such as legal advice, contract support, training, and networking opportunities with peers across the creative industries. By joining a union, you’re not only protecting your own career but also contributing to a stronger, fairer, and more resilient creative community in Scotland and beyond. Click the links below for more information and how to join a specific union.

If you know of a union not listed here please let us know.

Scotland-Specific Unions

• Scottish Artists Union (SAU) – Represents visual and applied artists, makers, and arts workers in Scotland.
  🔗 Scottish Artists Union
• Society of Authors Scotland (SoA) – The national group for writers, illustrators and translators in Scotland.
  🔗 Society of Authors Scotland
• Scottish Society of Playwrights (SSP) – Professional organisation representing playwrights in Scotland; affiliated with the STUC.
  🔗 Scottish Society of Playwrights
• Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) – The national trade union centre for Scotland, representing over 40 affiliated unions, including creative ones.
  🔗 Scottish Trades Union Congress

UK-Wide Creative & Cultural Unions (active in Scotland and UK)

• BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union) – Represents workers in broadcasting, film, theatre, digital media, and the arts. In Scotland, it runs BECTU Vision, offering training and support for freelance film and TV workers.
  🔗 BECTU | BECTU Vision Scotland
• Equity – The UK trade union for actors, singers, dancers, stage managers, and performers; affiliated with the STUC.
  🔗 Equity
• Musicians’ Union (MU) – Represents professional musicians across genres; active in Scotland and affiliated with the STUC.
  🔗 Musicians’ Union
• National Union of Journalists (NUJ) – Represents journalists throughout the UK, including Scotland; affiliated with the STUC.
  🔗 National Union of Journalists
• Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) – Represents writers working in TV, film, theatre, radio, books, and video games across the UK, including Scotland.
  🔗 Writers’ Guild of Great Britain