Freelance strike - in football

AS WE go to press, Scottish football referees who are members of the Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association are on strike as part of a dispute with the Scottish Football Association over alleged attacks on their integrity.

While this has received much media attention, few media outlets have noted that the Scottish football referees are in fact freelances.

As such, they do not have to comply with Employment Act regulations on balloting and giving notice of strike action.

Broadcasting skills training body Skillset estimated that as of November there are 128,000 freelances working in "Creative Media Industries", about one quarter of the creative workforce. Skillset calculates that 34 per cent of the film workforce and 28 per cent of the TV workforce are freelance.