Leadership overturned in National Writers Union

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Members of the National Writers Union punished the outgoing administration of their union in the election of national officers in December. For president, Gerald Colby, the challenger, defeated the incumbent, Marybeth Menaker, by 1045 to 574. In a clean sweep, Colby's opposition slate was victorious in all nine contests for national officer positions. In a mail-ballot referendum supervised by the American Arbitration Association, 1,743 members cast ballots. Two major disputed issues dominated the election campaign: one, a decision of the incumbent administration to exempt the NWU from the requirements of Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. (The LMRDA affords protection in federal law for the democratic rights of members in their unions) and the other, sanctions and harsh accusations by the administration against its critics, accusing them of libel. The election results can be seen as a repudiation of the former leadership on both counts.

The 7,000-member National Writers Union is affiliated with the United Auto Workers as a national local, UAW Local 1981, with chapters in various cities. For years, it filed with the U.S. Department of Labor all reports required by the LMRDA. But that changed in 2001 when the losing candidate for national president, in accord with the provisions of the LMRDA, challenged the election in an appeal to the DOL. At that point, the incumbent administration changed direction. It contended that the DOL had no jurisdiction because the Writers Union was not a "labor organization" as defined by the LMRDA and therefore was immune from its requirements. Rationale? The NWU contended that it represented only freelance writers, not employees, and so was technically not a "labor organization" but an organization of independent professionals. The DOL accepted that argument and refused to process the appeal.

The union's decision to get out from under the LMRDA touched off an intense discussion in the NWU. In an offhand comment on the union's internet discussion page, one critic wrote, without mentioning names, that there "might have been criminal penalties" for any UAW staffer who presented the new view on "labor organization" to Department of Labor. With that, the administration heaped abuse on the critic - and on others who quoted him - accusing him of making libelous charges, barred him from the internet, formally censured him, and circulated the denunciation throughout the union. These actions, in a union of writers who may face irresponsible charges of libel, could hardly sit well with the members and probably account for the administration's demise.

Half the NWU members are freelancers. The other half are employees, but no clearcut record was ever presented to the DOL to prove conclusively that the union represented them in collective bargaining. In the course of the discussion, one member suggested that the issue be resolved by the adoption of the following declaration by the NWU executive board:

"The National Writers Union represents the interests of freelance writers in their dealings with publishers. However, in addition to freelance writers, a large section of the NWU membership consists of writers who are employees of various firms and organizations. The NWU has dealt with employers in the past, and intends to continue to do so in the future, concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms of employment of our members who are employees. Consequently, the NWU is a labor organization as defined by the LMRDA and will comply with its provisions that apply to labor organizations, including those provisions that strengthen the democratic rights of members in their unions."

See UAW rank-and-file websites