Writer Alert—UPTOWN Magazine—October 18 2017

UPTOWN Magazine–a national publication with regional editions in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. –has not been paying all of its freelance writers. Some writers remain unpaid since October, 2014. Together five writers, now represented by the National Writers Union, are owed $18,825 for work published by UPTOWN over the past three years. The NWU has tried repeatedly […]

NWU Brings the Ebony Fight to NABJ17!

The National Writers Union was well represented at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention and Career Fair held in New Orleans held August 9-13, 2017. NABJ President Sarah Glover and her Board very generously gave our group a great platform to discuss the ongoing campaign to get Ebony freelancers paid.  Prior to […]

NWU and Ebony Freelancers: “Pay the Writers!”  

Last April, unpaid freelancers for Ebony magazine started the Twitter hashtag #Ebonyowes. NWU joined in the online discussion and slowly started developing a campaign to get the writers compensated. As of today, we have about 40 new members at Ebony, who are owed more than $70,000, and still more writers are joining almost daily. Under pressure from the […]

EBONY Blues

I am saddened by the situation with the unpaid Ebony and Jet writers, who are now being represented by the National Writers Union. I take it personally that these iconic publications have allowed this situation to drag on so long. They need to show greater respect for the house that John Johnson built, and which […]

The National Writers Union to EBONY: “See You in Court!”

NEW YORK, NY – The National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981 (NWU) is preparing to go to court after the EBONY Media Organization (EMO) and its parent company, the Clear View Group (CVG) failed to meet a self-imposed deadline to compensate as many as 50 freelance writers who are owed as much as $200,000. After mounting […]

Press Release on Ebony Media’s Non-Payment to Freelancers

The National Writers Union Continues To Press Ebony Media For Written Agreement On Compensating Unpaid Freelancers Statement to the media not enough, says union that represents freelance writers NEW YORK, NY – As the number of freelance writers owed by EBONY Media continues to rise, the National Writers Union is demanding a firmer commitment from […]

Freelance Isn’t Free Becomes Law in NYC

On May 15, freelance workers celebrated the launch of the new Freelance Isn’t Free law at the Westinghouse Building in Manhattan. The Freelancers Union, with the support of the National Writers Union, Make the Road NY, and other unions and freelance organizations, helped push the bill through the City Council to a 51-0 vote last […]

GSU Infringes on Writers’ Copyrights

In a “friend of the court” brief filed earlier this month, the NWU joined a diverse coalition of writers and photographers to oppose the wholesale scanning of books and journals that are being used for university classes without payment to the original authors or publishers. Instead of having students buy the books for their classes, […]

Getting Help With Grievances

If you haven’t been paid for your work, your publisher said one thing and did another, or your story was turned into a video game and you haven’t seen a dime, the Grievance and Contracts Division is here to help. We’ve won over $1.5 million for members since we started keeping records. But before you […]

Freelance Isn’t Free Becomes Law in NYC!

On October 27, the NY City Council passed the landmark Freelance Isn’t Free bill into law. With a vote of 51-0, the City Council made New York City the first in the U.S. to make non-payment to freelancers and independent contract workers a crime. NWU is a cosponsor of the bill and well aware of […]