What I'm suggesting is that we need to discover new partners in this gig-economy. The Freelancers Union in New York is the perfect example. They are one of the major drivers to help push through the Freelance Isn't Free Act. Which ensures timely payment and proper contracts for all freelancers.
In the US and UK, various organizations were able to get their respective governments to pass laws with respect to timely payments. In the New York area and in the UK, you don't have to chase late-paying customers on your own anymore.
In the past, US photo organizations helped negotiate standard editorial contracts with Forbes and Conde Nast as well as commercial contracts with large companies like Kraft Foods. In Canada,
CAPIC helped to successfully lobby for changes in our copyright laws. Perhaps
CMG might be able to grow into a position like that for the editorial side.
In Canada, large TV networks, especially the CBC, seem to love standard contracts. There is a similar situation with some US TV networks. These "standard" contracts just provide the basic starting points: photographer will supply X photos in exchange for $Y; If situation A occurs then the photographer gets paid $B; If C occurs then the photographer gets paid $D.
Yes, a savvy photographer can often do this on their own but there aren't a lot of savvy photographers. CMG might be able to save some photographers from themselves
or prevent them from being preyed upon by certain media organizations.
But how many professional organizations can we support? Photo-wise, there's NPAC, CAPIC and PPOC. For writers, there's at least CMG,
WGC and
CAA. Most freelancers, photo or word, face similar issues.