Coronavirus Relief for Writers

Every working person has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. As freelance writers and authors, we’ve seen gigs fall through, projects put on hold, and book tours canceled as the world does all it can to stop the spread. If we fall ill, we have no employee benefits to help us cover that lost […]

Close the Camps!

New York, NY February 16 – NWU members joined around 500 activists in a march organized by Close the Camps to the New York Time Square headquarters of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters, a media conglomerate has lucrative contracts with the government to provide immigrant-tracking data that directly empowers U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) […]

Reception for the NWUSO Legal Action Fund

In 2018, the National Writers Union collected more than $200,000 for almost 150 unpaid freelancers by waging Group Non-Payment Grievances. Most of these were settled directly and with the assistance of the UAW Legal Department , some had to go to court. All of the unpaid freelancers were paid 100% of what they were owed. […]

Reception for the NWUSO Legal Action Fund

In 2018, the National Writers Union collected more than $200,000 for almost 150 unpaid freelancers by waging Group Non-Payment Grievances. Most of these were settled directly by the union. And some, with the assistance of the UAW Legal Department, had to go to court. All of the unpaid freelancers were paid 100% of what they […]

Arizona Labor Packs a Punch

In the run up to the 2018 election, an office in the back of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall in Tucson served as cramped headquarters for a new kind of labor campaign. A hand-made poster on the wall compare the two most recent Arizona District 2 Congressional members’ lifetime legislative scores showed why […]

George Lakey on the Plus Side of a Polarized Society

NWU member George Lakey spoke recently about how the Scandinavian countries went from a deeply polarized region in the 1920s and 30s, with Nazis and Bolsheviks fighting each other, to the most economically equal region with the highest productivity and most generous benefits in the world. Lakey, a recently retired professor at Swarthmore (PA) College, […]

Follow Ongoing Events at the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Journalists face daily threats of being attacked, imprisoned, threatened and harassed for doing their job. A survey of over 400 women journalists in 50 countries by the International Federation of Journalists showed that “almost one in two women journalists have suffered sexual harassment, psychological abuse, online trolling and others forms of gender-based violence while working.” […]

OUT MAGAZINE: PAY THE FREELANCERS !

Feb. 26, 2018 — NEW YORK CITY — The National Writers Union is now representing 25 freelance contributors to Out magazine, who are owed more than $40,000 for work that was contracted, produced and published. This campaign — which is also taking place on social media with the hashtag #OutOwes — is going public today, and we expect […]

They Went to the Mexican Border to Help

My husband, Jose Rosa, and I responded to an outreach call from the New Sanctuary Coalition (NSC), and went to the Mexican/US border in late January. NSC has invited our union members to stand in solidarity with those who’ve been traveling in recent months in a caravan from Central America. Four NWU members have taken up that […]

Manuel Duran Wins Temporary Stay of Deportation

Last August, the NWU Delegate Assembly passed a resolution in support of journalist Manuel Duran Ortega, a Salvadoran immigrant seeking asylum in the US. Duran Ortega was a TV reporter in El Salvador who became a respected journalist in Memphis, TN, writing for the Spanish-language publication Memphis Noticias. While wearing a press badge and reporting at […]