Beyond Ebonyowes

The unfortunate circumstances around EBONYOWES are no secret: Loss of income. Possibly fractured relationships with editors, and second-guessing by some about our decision to take legal action against a beloved American institution. However, the experience forced me out of my comfort zone. After I stopped writing for EBONY, I began to pitch larger publications and […]

Get to Know Us

More than 40 people joined the NWU to get grievance assistance or contract advice during the first six months of 2018. And roughly half of all members who request service—not counting group grievances—are new members. If you’re one of them, welcome to the National Writers Union!  If you joined to pursue a grievance, you may […]

A Spear in Our Side: When Police Charge Victims

After DeAndre Harris was brutally beaten by white nationalists in Charlottesville, VA, last summer, police charged the 20-year-old black man with assaulting the nationalists. Eventually he was acquitted, but this has become a pattern: Law enforcement underreporting hate crimes in America, while tacitly colluding with perpetuators by charging the victims. The impact is that those who would […]

#LibertadaManuelDuran

Manuel Durán Ortega es un periodista conocido y respetado en Memphis, TN. Ex gerente de una cadena de televisión en El Salvador, llegó a los EE. UU. hace más de una década como inmigrante indocumentado después de que su vida se vio amenazada. Durán fue arrestado el 3 de abril mientras cubría una protesta local […]

Free Manuel Duran

Manuel Duran Ortega is a well-known and respected journalist in Memphis, TN. A former TV station manager in El Salvador, he came to the US more than a decade ago as an undocumented immigrant after his life was threatened. Duran was arrested by Memphis police on April 3, while covering a local immigration rights protest […]

Consumers Digest: Pay Your Writers What You Owe Them

The National Writers Union/UAW 1981 is representing 17 freelance contributors to Consumers Digest Magazine who are owed more than $63,000 for stories that were contracted, completed and published. Some writers have waited more than a year to be paid by a publication that presents itself as a champion of consumers and ethical business practices. On May […]

Stop Racist Attacks on Immigrant Families

The National Writers Union strongly condemns the anti-immigrant policies and actions of the United States government that separates families and kidnaps children. One of the most prominent ways of getting into the States is by applying for ESTA via E Visum Service, which most of the oppressed have, but still continue to be oppressed.  It […]

NWU in Spain for Gender Conference

Around the world, gender-based violence, pay inequity, and a lack of diversity in newsroom management are pressing matters. In late May, about 30 journalists gathered at a Gender Conference in Santander, Spain, to explore what must be done. Sponsored by the International Federation of Journalists, we met in the Magdalena Palace— originally built for Spanish […]

Latina Freelancers Receive $43,000 to Cover Unpaid Invoices

We were building a mass grievance at Latina and Latina Kitchen. We had organized a group of 14 writers and photographers who were owed more than $45,000 by the publications’ owner Solera Capital, LLC, a private equity firm in NYC. Latina’s website was down, and my emails to their officers bounced back. Still, we moved forward, planning to add a few more folks […]

Writers Ask U.S. Copyright Office for Copyright Registration Reform

Washington, DC, May 8, 2018 — Representatives of the NWU, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), and the Authors Guild (AG) converged on Washington this week to call on the US Copyright Office to create a “group registration” procedure by which a writer could […]