Freelance Still Isn’t Free

Senator Gounardes, Assemblymember Bronson Re-Introduce Legislation to Protect Rights & Wages of Freelancers Statewide ‘Freelance Isn’t Free’ would extend protections to independent workers statewide; was passed by the NYS legislature last session, but vetoed by the Governor Albany, NY – Today, State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Harry Bronson reintroduced their Freelance Isn’t Free bill […]

Join the Poetry Corner

The debut of a NWU Poet’s Corner might be overdue, but as you well know nothing happens before it’s time. Audience participation to poetry performed jointly with both NWU and The Rebel Poets during last year’s NYC Poetry Festival  segued into the idea of  The Poet’s Corner. In fact, Ms. Faiz has secured our attendance […]

Lobby Day in Albany

Four NWU-FSP members joined the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition on a lobby day trip to Albany in late January. As part of the coalition, we are advocating for New York to enact the Unemployment Bridge Program, a permanent $500 million fund that will provide the equivalent of unemployment insurance to workers excluded from traditional unemployment, […]

Inter-Union Town Hall on Artificial Intelligence

Dozens of members of NWU, WGAE, NewsGuild and NABET got together on Zoom in early February for a virtual town hall about AI in the newsroom. NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss opened the call by giving a brief overview of how ChatGPT works, followed by a quick demonstration of what that AI chatbot might spit out […]

FSP Elects Co-Chairs

The Freelance Solidarity Project — NWU’s Digital Media Division — elected its first two co-chairs for 2023, with Olivia Schwob serving as Administrative Coordinator and Abigail Higgins serving as Member Organizer. The co-chairs, along with a new Steering Committee structure, are part of an effort to make the Freelance Solidarity Project’s ambitious organizing more sustainable […]

Some Notes on the Earthquake in Turkey

1. There were two waves; one of them is 7.8, the next one 7.5. It hit 10 provinces. 2. Thousands of buildings collapsed. The body county passed 11,000 today. And these are the numbers coming from hospital morgues. Thousands of people are still missing. 3. Earthquake is natural, the consequences are very political and socio-economic. […]

How Many More Must Die?

On January 7, 2023, a video was obtained by the Memphis, Tennessee Police Department of five African American police officers, now fired, for the horrendous violent arrest and murder of Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop. Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old African American father, skateboard enthusiast, FedEx employee, and a “nearly perfect son,” as his mother, […]

Ramón V Pebenito, ¡Presente!

Our comrade, Ramón V Pebenito, passed away by 1 a.m. on Friday, December 30th. He lost his long-time battle with cancer. We are deeply saddened with his loss. He has been active in community organizing in several fields, namely housing and food justices, and working diligently within black and brown communities. In a short amount […]

What’s In a Signature Line?

WHAT’S IN A SIGNATURE LINE? by Barbara Beckwith First, for those who don’t know: a signature line is text that automatically appears at the bottom of every email you send or respond to. John McDaid uses different “sig lines” in four contexts. He uses one for personal emails that end with just his name and […]

NYS Governor Hochul Vetos Freelance Isn’t Free

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Press Release for: December 23, 2022 Contact: Meredith Tannor, 646-226-0946, mtannor@freelancersunion.org (NWU) Eric Thurm: (914) 275-1122 eric.d.thurm@gmail.com Rafael Espinal, Executive Director of the Freelancers Union and Larry Goldbetter, President of the National Writers Union Respond to Unfortunate News of Governor Kathy Hochul Vetoing the NYS Freelance Isn’t Free Law, Which Would Have […]