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Oregon Chapter
NWU: All Writers. All Genres. All Media.
“We don’t need any more writers as solitary heroes. We need a
heroic writers’ movement: assertive, militant, pugnacious.”
~ Toni Morrison, 1981
We are the Oregon Chapter of the National Writers Union (NWU)
The National Writers Union has a 43-year history of fighting for the rights of creative workers. We have much to be proud of: winning Freelancing Isn’t Free legislation to establish basic rights for freelance workers in multiple cities and states; recovering stolen wages from multiple employers; marching and organizing critics’ solidarity with the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA; standing in solidarity with journalists in war zones throughout the world; and joining other unions in condemning the attempted genocide of the Palestinian people.
Who We Represent
NWU represents academic writers, copywriters, book authors, technical writers, journalists, novelists, playwrights, self-published authors, translators and more. The union’s Freelance Solidarity Project represents illustrators, photographers, videographers, social media producers and creatives in any medium.
What We Do
The NWU supports member writers and digital media workers in a number of ways, including:
- Providing press passes for freelance journalists and photographers
- Contract and grievance help
- Advocacy
- Health insurance assistance
- Defense of freedom of speech
The NWU also works to improve the rights of all writers and digital media workers in a number of ways, including:
- Promotion of legislation to ensure freelancers receive contracts and timely payment for work performed
- Defense of the rights of journalists throughout the world to safely carry out their work
- Development of worker-responsive standards on the corporate use of artificial intelligence
- Support for the efforts of writers and digital media workers in other unions to strengthen worker rights
NWU Oregon Chapter Leadership
Chair: Marty Hart-Landsberg
Treasurer: Lura Frazey
Secretary : Kacey Carpenter
Webmaster: Lura Frazey
Steering Committee member: Pat Riggs-Henson
Keep up with Oregon labor – visit our Oregon Labor Media and Resources page
With the support of Worx, a worker-owned union co-op, NWU now has our own merch shop! You can order NWU-logo T-shirts, tote bags, hats, and mugs.
We also have NWU Oregon Chapter bookmarks available for members to request here.
National Writers Union (NWU)
NWU works to promote and protect the rights, interests, and economic advancement of members; to organize writers to improve professional working conditions through collective bargaining action; and to provide professional services to members. Learn more about the NWU at NWU.org.
NWU Releases Platform and Principles for Policy on Generative AI
by Alexis Gunderson, October 30, 2023
After many months spent organizing, strategizing, and working collectively towards a draft both ambitious in scope and reflective of our members’ wide-ranging experiences and perspectives, the NWU Generative AI Working Group has at last ratified our Platform and Principles for Policy on Generative AI. . . .
NWU’s Platform and Principles for Policy on Generative AI will serve as a resource to guide our organizing, activism, and advocacy and to inform NWU members, other creative workers, and allies about what generative AI is, how it is impacting us, and what we can do about it. Our platform builds on our lived experience with the growing impact of generative AI on our working lives and livelihoods, our fundamental principles as a labor union, our longstanding policy advocacy agenda, our history of engagement with Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office, our testimony at the Copyright Office “listening sessions” on generative AI earlier this year, and extensive dialogue with other creators and allies in the U.S. and around the world.
NWU members interested in joining the union’s work on this front, contact Alexis Gunderson or Rose Eveleth.