The National Writers Union and the demand for a ceasefire in Gaza

I am a proud member of the National Writers Union. To those who follow the labor movement, our NWU is currently known for two things. We are taking on the downsides of freelancing and advancing a movement that is seeking to win both local legislative solutions and contractual provisions that begin to solve the problems freelancers are facing. This is new territory for unions. We are also getting known for our support for a ceasefire in Gaza, our work in helping to coordinate a progressive labor response to the carnage there, partnering with the United Electrical workers and some other unions in support of a ceasefire, and our support for Palestinian journalists. This support for a ceasefire and our Palestinian and Arab union siblings is also new territory for Labor.

Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, met

 with Nasser Abu Baker, President of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, in

 Ramallah on December 2,2023. Photo from the National Writers Union.

Labor is not all on the same page as this work unfolds, as the links above and a recent article in In These Times point out. Labor solidarity is always a work in progress, and this is especially true when it comes to unions in the United States building solidarity with unions in other countries when the administration in Washington has other priorities and other allies.  

Our NWU is going one step further than other unions in our solidarity work. A helpful opinion piece that appeared in The New York Times by Lama Al-Arian on December 3, 2023 sets some context for our union's solidarity work. We are being asked to contribute to a special appeal for Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the Palestinian media workers on the ground in Gaza and Ramallah. Donations can be sent here: bit.ly/ifjsafetyfund. Please contribute if you can.

For additional information and context, please see this article in The Nation by Sarah Lazare, this article from Oregon AFT Local 5017 and this article by Keith Brower Brown and Caitlyn Clark that appeared in Labor Notes, 

This post does not reflect the opinions of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO.