The NWU has filed comments with the U.S. Copyright Office in response to that office's public inquiry about "how copyright owners have handled small copyright claims and the obstacles they have encountered, as well as potential alternatives to the current legal system that could better accommodate such claims."

The NWU's comments focus on the real-world experience of NWU members whose copyrights have been infringed, and the patterns and trends in infringement-related grievances which have been brought to the attention of the Grievance and Contract Division. Our comments provide a snapshot of the problem copyright infringement poses for working writers, and a blueprint for what needs to be done about it. The NWU's comments were drafted by Book Division Co-Chair Edward Hasbrouck and reviewed and revised by an ad hoc committee made up of GCD members and Book Division co-chairs, as well as First Vice President Ann Hoffmann.

The deadline for submission of comments, originally Jan. 16, has been extended until 5 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 17 in light of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance.  Anyone can submit comments.

We encourage individual members who have had copyright issues to submit their own statements. Please identify yourselves as NWU members; you may wish to mention that you also endorse the NWU's comments. A comment form, along with background on the possibility of a special court or special procedures for small copyright claims, is posted on the Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/docs/smallclaims. If you are considering filing your own comments and would like to coordinate them with the NWU, please contact Book Division Co-Chair Susan E Davis at sednyc@rcn.com.

"NEW YORK -- New York Times staffers unhappy with management are letting publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. know it. In recent days, more than 270 current and former Times employees have signed an open letter expressing their "profound dismay" with recent company decisions." (by Michael Calderone in Huffington Post) More

In related news, HuffPo bloggers unhappy with management are letting publisher Arianna Huffington know it. For news from NWU's Pay The Writer campaign to set a standard base pay rate for online freelance journalists at the Huffington Post and other online publications, sign up for email alerts at Pay The Writer and follow the conversation on Twitter @PayTheWriter.

National Writers Union Joins NY Press Club Coalition for the First Amendment

We have joined a dozen other NY press organizations in a coalition to monitor NYPD/Press Relations stemming from the arrests and mistreatment of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street. For more information about the New York Press Club Coalition for the First Amendment click here.

National Writers Union Urges Children's Book Authors to Honor Hyatt Boycott

The National Writers Union has been asked by UNITEHERE! Local 11 President Tom Walsh to help encourage children’s book writers and illustrators to honor the union’s boycotts at Hyatt hotels.  In particular, we urge the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) to move their 2012 Summer Conference, scheduled for August 6-8, out of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Workers at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza have called for a boycott of all business since August 2010 for a safe and fair contract.  They join workers at 16 other Hyatt hotels throughout North America in demanding that Hyatt change its safety record and allow workers to take on the company’s practices, wherever it is abusing workers.  SCBWI continues to plan its conference in the Hyatt, in the face of repeated outreach to their board and staff.  The Hyatt boycotts have been endorsed by the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO, the LA County Federation of Labor, and Writers Guild of America-West (WGA-West).

1981

The “Why a Union?” workshop at the Nation Institute’s Writers’ Congress draws an overflow crowd. The plenary of 3,000 writers endorses the proposal to create a union for writers in all genres to actively press for better pay and treatment and to vigorously oppose Reagan-era threats to free expression. "We need no more heroic individual writers," said keynote speaker Toni Morrison. She called for "an accessible organization that is truly representative of the diverse interests of all writers."

Barbara Raskin is elected head of an organizing committee and writers return home to organize chapters, starting with the San Francisco/Bay Area, New Jersey, New York, Washington DC, Baltimore/Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Westchester/Fairfield, followed by  Boston, Santa Cruz/Monterey,  Chicago, Los Angeles,  Twin Cities,  Northwest (Seattle/Oregon),  Western MA, and more recently At Large, Tucson, Philadelphia,  Seattle and Vermont.

The Washington DC local spearheads the first NWU agreement with Black Film Review on freelance terms. An agreement with Musician magazine soon follows.
 

1982

Under direction of journalist John Dinges, the NWU writes a national constitution that focuses on decentralized democracy.

1983

The National Writers Union is officially chartered. Members ratify a national constitution that  insures that chapters around the country have autonomy in local affairs. District 65/UAW provides free office space.

One of the NWU's first campaigns is to support poet Dennis Brutus when the U.S. Immigration Service threatens to deport him back to South Africa where he would face certain persecution. NWU members write letters and work vigorously to win him asylum, which he is granted.

NWU and Mother Jones make agreements on minimum standards for freelance contributors. Pacific Guest Life agrees to similar terms.

New York Chapter forms a softball team that plays against a combined Nation, Nuclear Times and Village Voice team. Two years later, the union’s ”Mighty WU” team has a winning season and competes in the publishers’ softball league.