Cruel But Not Unusual: Mumia’s Treatment Delayed

Mumia Abu-Jamal received a cruel mix of bad and good news from a prison doctor on March 31. The doctor shared the results of his recent lab test, which showed clear signs of cirrhosis, an irreversible scarring of the liver caused by his untreated Hep C. The doctor also informed Mumia that he would be […]

NWU Members Learn to Organize at Global Women’s Event

New York chapter members Rose Imperato and I attended the AFL-CIO Women’s Global Leadership Program from March 16 – 19, which ran concurrently with the UN Commission on the Status of Women. We were among some 40 women union and labor activists, which included auto and domestic workers, an oil rigger, a road builder and […]

Tensions Mount at UN Commission on Status of Women

The tension was palpable at the annual meeting of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) March 13-24 in New York City, which the NWU’s Larry Goldbetter, Brigid O’Farrell, Rose Imperato and Amanda Robb attended. Much of the unrest at CSW’s 61st session stemmed directly from concerns about an increasingly hostile environment […]

Open Letter to UN Member States

UNCSW61 – Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work, 13 to 24 March 2017 The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment […]

In Memory of Lynn Stewart

Valedictorian  “Instruction in youth is like engraving in stone” —Moroccan  “Did you say I’ve got a lot to learn Well don’t think I’m trying not to learn Since this is a perfect spot to learn— TEACH ME TONIGHT” —“Teach Me Tonight” Sammy Cahn   Can strings push? Can sticks pull? Is water wet? Is fat […]

Trump v. Press Freedom – A Panel on March 10

On Feb. 24, CNN, Politico, BuzzFeed, HuffPost and the New York Times were banned from the West Wing press briefing at the White House! Current attacks on U.S. media workers bear a striking resemblance to those in Turkey and other countries. We are now in the world of “alternative facts,” and the President of the […]

Statement in Support of Freedom of the Press

NWU is proud to stand with more than 90 allied organizations in issuing this Statement in Support of Freedom of the Press. “In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the […]

Writers Call for Reform of Copyright Registration

In Comments and a Petition for Rulemaking submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office on January 30, 2017, the National Writers Union and three other national organizations of writers — the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Horror Writers Association — have reiterated our longstanding belief […]

NWU Priorities for the Copyright Office

In response to invitations from the Librarian of Congress and the House Judiciary Committee, the NWU has filed recommendations for the selection of the next Register of Copyright (the official who serves under the Librarian of Congress as the head of the Copyright Office) and for Congress and the Copyright Office in reforming U.S. copyright […]

Free Ahmet Sik and All Turkish Journalists Held in Jail

On February 3, NWU joined PEN America and the Indypendent at a press conference called by the Research Institute of Turkey (RIT), to demand the release of Ahmet Sik and all jailed Turkish journalists. Sik was arrested on December 30, 2016, and charged with spreading “terrorist propaganda” for a Tweet! He is among 144 journalists […]