[Listwork] National Writers Union Members Lost Rights through Union Leader's Betrayal

[Jeff Perry]

  National Writers Union Members Lost Rights through Union Leader's Betrayal 

    In 2002 some 7,000 members of the National Writers Union (Local 1981, UAW) lost important rights pertaining to free speech, fair union elections, financial safeguards, and the "Union Members Bill of Rights" after the union's president, Jonathan Tasini, along with UAW attorney Lowell Peterson, presented an inaccurate picture of the NWU and argued to the Department of Labor that the NWU was not a "labor organization" as defined by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. At the time that Tasini and Peterson made this argument the DoL was examining the conduct of Tasini and UAW officials in the 2001 NWU election. 
    Since Tasini and Peterson made their arguments, the NWU membership has declined by over 25%, the union has stopped  filing LM-2 financial reports with the DoL, and complaints about election irregularities and censorship are increasing.
    Jonathan Tasini, who was so quick to jettison the rights of NWU members when his political career was in jeopardy, has since been named the director of the AFL-CIO-supported "American Rights at Work" project.
     
   Using documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Jeffrey B. Perry unravels this tale of  betrayal. The story is documented in a special eight-part investigative report at www.yourunionnews.com 
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