2.1. I thought it was illegal for freelance writers to have a union.
Description
This article is from the Natl Writers Union FAQ, by Vicki Richman nwufaq@vicric.com with numerous contributions by others.
2.1. I thought it was illegal for freelance writers to have a union.
That question should probably be rephrased: Does the
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protect freelance
writers from antitrust legislation?
Most of the NLRA applies only to employees. Freelance
writers are considered independent contractors. But we are
free to organize ourselves into a union, take what benefits
the law now offers, and lobby for full labor protection.
Even without reform of the NLRA, we have achieved
collective-bargaining agreements with several publications.
We also achieve a kind of collective bargaining in our
standard contracts between writer and publisher. We offer
the standard contracts to our members, with training in
negotiating with the editor or publisher to gain preference
for the NWU contract over any other agreement. The contracts
-- specific to periodicals, books, and other types of
publishing -- were drafted by teams of attorneys and
seasoned writers.
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