Context: I'm a freelance writer/multimedia person. I was supposed to script a podcast. Their contract was weird, so I asked some questions and asked for a pay bump from 620 to 750. Super moderate request, considering it would involve a lot of research and writing (translating science heavy jargon into audio script for a gen audience).
Here's what my client said:
“…$620 is determined based on 3 metrics: 1) this being a first assignment where we are still assessing the working relationship, 2) the scale of the project we are asking you to do, 3) – and most critically – equity among the stipends we are offering our contract writers. For a first assignment, we'd like to keep the fee as is. Moving forward, we can absolutely negotiate your compensation on a script by script basis.”
And so I said:“I appreciate you following up on everything and for providing context. Unfortunately, this isn’t feeling like the right fit for me at this time. Establishing a working relationship based on low pay doesn’t put me in a great position, and true pay equity is about meeting industry standard, not keeping wages down among your contractors. No hard feelings on my end, and I hope you can understand where I’m coming from. I do think your organization is doing interesting work, and I truly wish you all success.” (Bold added here to highlight important bit.)
TL;DR: I turned down a freelance contract, because a client tried to pay me too low while using “pay equity” as an excuse.
EDIT TO ADD: I'm happy to name the client for any freelance multimedia people wanting to avoid them. The beat is climate change. Just DM me.