NWU Delegate Assembly – August 10-12, 2018
UAW Region 9A NYC HQ
256 W. 38 St. 12th floor (between 7th and 8th Aves.)
The 2018 Delegate Assembly, August 10-12, is happening at a pivotal point. It’s a period of chaos and uncertainty that affects our union, our industry, and all working people.
So far, this summer, we’ve witnessed the mass kidnapping of more than 2,000 children from refugees on the US Southern border. On July 25, The NY Times reported that as upwards of 400 parents may have been deported without their children. We saw the Supreme Court uphold the racist Muslim travel ban, the anti-union Janus decision, and Justice Kennedy create another opening on the Supreme Court for Trump to fill.
At the end of July, TRONC laid off one-half of the NY Daily News editorial staff, leaving the major tabloid with a staff of 45 to cover a city of nine million. We also saw The Guardian on July 19 report that book sales in the UK are soaring while authors’ incomes have been in a steady, 10-year decline. Trying to steer and build a small union of freelancers like ours through such stormy seas requires the active participation of everyone. We need all of our hands on deck!
The DA will show there are some bright spots. This month, the NY area CAP Council voted to endorse Julia Salazar for NY State Senate. She’s running in Brooklyn against a long-time Democratic incumbent, and is part of the progressive movement that came out of the Sanders campaign and produced the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset in the Bronx, that beat the man many said was set to replace Nancy Pelosi as the Dems House Leader.
Julia is a member of NWU and has previously worked on some UAW organizing campaigns and tenant rights issues. She will be speaking at the DA! The daughter of a single Mom who came here from Colombia as a young child, her story is compelling. She will be the keynote speaker, Friday, August 10 at 7pm. This session will be open to the public and live on the NWU fb page.
Another bright spot is that Cedric O’Bannon, a black freelancer who was stabbed by a fascist while covering a Klan rally and later arrested, has also joined NWU. He’s out of the country, but has agreed to speak to the DA via Skype, a perfect way for us to mark the first anniversary of the fascist “Unite the Right” torch-light rally in Charlottesville.
We will hear about the case of journalist Manuel Duran, who has been in an ICE detention center since April, and we will hear from Lise Soskolne, the core organizer at Working Artists and the Greater Economy (WAGE), and a member of the Writers Guild of America East VICE bargaining council. Bev Brakeman, the new UAW Region 9A Director, will speak on Sunday.
Of the 37 delegates and officers, 14 are African American and Latinx, 15 are women and 10 are first-time delegates. We should all be very encouraged by these developments.
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.