NWU Celebrates Illinois’ Governor Pritzker Signing the Freelance Worker Protection Act, Setting a Nationwide Standard for Protections for Freelancers

Springfield, IL — On Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzer signed the Freelance Worker Protection Act (HB1122) into law. The National Writers Union (NWU) celebrates Illinois setting a nationwide standard as it becomes the first state to enact legislation protecting freelance workers. Under FWPA, sponsored by Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) and Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas (D-Chicago), freelancers […]

NWU Stands with WGA/SAG-AFTRA!

The National Writers Union stands in solidarity with the workers of SAG-AFTRA and the WGA. Central to the strike is the industry’s use of AI, for which SAG-AFTRA is demanding “informed consent and fair compensation”. As a union of multidisciplinary writers and media workers, we’re acutely aware of the way creative labor is devalued and […]

L’Officiel to Pay $275,000 to 41 Freelance Workers!

For Immediate Release Contact: Larry Goldbetter: lgoldbetter@nwu.org 212-254-0275 French Fashion Media Company L’Officiel Settles With New York City July 11th, 2023 NEW YORK—The City of New York City announced today that they have settled a lawsuit against L ’Officiel USA, the American subsidiary of the French-owned global media company that operates several print and digital […]

Creators call for action on AI copyright exceptions

An exceptionally diverse coalition of creative workers including the National Writers Union (NWU) and other writers, illustrators, photographers, graphic artists, digital media workers, journalists, novelists, playwrights, composers, and songwriters today issued a joint call for action to redress the damage being done by copying of our creative work, without our permission and without compensation, to […]

Last Chance to Save Assange and Safeguard Press Freedom

(Statement by Dominique Pradalié,  President of the International Federation of Journalists, for worldwide actions on July 2, 2023, in support of freedom for jailed journalist Julian Assange.) For the past decade the pursuit of Julian Assange has consumed me with fear – both for Wikileaks founder himself and for all the other journalists who would […]

NWU Urges IL Gov. Pritzker to Sign the Freelance Worker Protection Act

The National Writers Union today called on Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to sign a proposed new law designed to protect freelance writers, graphic artists, photographers, online content providers, website designers and numerous other contract workers from being cheated out of all or part of their pay. The president of the Writers Union, Larry Goldbetter, urged […]

“Please Humanize This Copy”

Soon after the public release of ChatGPT, I lost a lucrative copywriting job to artificial intelligence. At best, this incident represents a questionable moral decision on the part of my client. At worst, it is a harbinger of the coming mass replacement of creative workers. A little background: I am a full-time freelance writer. Though […]

Palestinian Journalists Syndicate Congress Held in Ramallah

Ramallah, Palestine May 25 – “They attack us because we are witnesses…We will never give up.” That’s how PJS President and IFJ Vice President, Nasser Abu Bakr opened the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) Congress. The hybrid mass event was attended by about 2,000 delegates, half of them attending online from Gaza. Members of the IFJ […]

IFJ ExCom Meets in Athens

The IFJ ExCom was held in Athens on April 20-22. The ExCom, elected at the last Congress, includes representatives from Peru, Colombia, Panama, Angola, Cameroon, Somalia, Libya, Tunisia, Oman, India, Palestine, France, Germany, UK, Spain, Australia, Canada and the US. Maybe the most pressing issue on the agenda is the developing split within the federation, […]