From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (Harel Barzilai)
Subject: National Writers Union ONLINE
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 04:04:42 GMT

[Via misc.activism.progressive from LaborNet's ln.dialogue]
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Topic 131       POINTER: NWU (UAW Loc 1981) online      Response  2 of  2 
mstein 
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From: Michael Stein <mstein@igc.org>
Subject: POINTER: NWU (UAW Loc 1981) online 
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/* Written  7:43 am  Nov  1, 1992 by saskin@igc.apc.org in igc:nwu.agenda */ 
/* ---------- "NWU on line services" ---------- */ 

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  N W U   s e r v e s   m e m b e r s   e l e c t r o n i c a l l y

		     B y   S t e v e   A s k i n
=====================================================================

     A Writers Union member in Paris needs help in a dispute with 
a U.S. magazine.  Sitting at his computer, he taps in a message 
which will be instantly transmitted to a union volunteer in New 
York.   

     A 21st century fantasy?  Not at all!   

     Through the NWU's new computer services committee, any NWU 
union member with a computer and modem can electronically 
transmit questions, information, or cries for help to the union's 
on-line service volunteers.  Members in the U.S., Europe and 
Latin America are already using this service for fast, cheap 
communication with the union.   

     The NWU has been on-line since May 1991, when Bay Area 
member Brad Cleveland established an NWU discussion area on 
Peacenet, a small computer communications system serving 
environmental, peace, labor and international development 
organizations.   

     Peacenet subscribers can obtain information about the union 
by "visiting" its "nwu.agenda" conference.  The union also 
maintains a separate Peacenet conference, known as "nwu.private," 
for members-only discussions.  Under an agreement negotiated by 
Cleveland, NWU members who join Peacenet receive four hours of 
free connect time, and a $1 discount from the system's normal $10 
monthly minimum charge. 

     Outreach via Compuserve, the nation's largest electronic 
communication system, is the union's main computer communications 
priority.  Compuserve's on-line discussion areas for journalists, 
fiction writers and technical writers are "an excellent vehicle 
for letting people know what the Writers Union does," says Judith 
Broadhurst, a New York local member who serves as assistant 
"sysop" (short for system operator), coordinating the freelance 
section of Compuserve's 10,000+ member Journalism Forum.  On-line 
discussions are "not only a good membership recruitment tool," 
says Broadhurst, "but also a consciousness-raising tool to 
educate people about issues like censorship and fair pay 
treatment of writers." 

     In recent months, dozens of writers have requested 
membership applications after learning about the union through 
discussions on Compuserve.  Locals have used the electronic 
communication system to advertise events ranging from Writers' 
Rights Day to local "evenings with editors."  Members in Boston, 
Chicago, New York, Santa Cruz and Western Massachusetts are 
serving as on-line volunteers, electronically posting information 
about local NWU events.  Volunteers are still needed in other 
locals.   

     Starting with this issue, the union will electronically post 
selected articles from the American Writer and other union 
information on Compuserve, for reference on that system and 
electronic redistribution elsewhere.   

     Broadhurst points out that the news research services 
available on systems like Compuserve can "put a wire service in 
your computer," providing freelance writers instant access to 
wire service copy and powerful news research services.  Writers 
must use such systems carefully, however, because charges can 
quickly mount up.  To help members use those systems efficiently, 
several locals are planning to follow Boston's lead in offering 
educational programs on on-line research.  The AFL-CIO is 
currently negotiating to create a private labor network on 
Compuserve, which will provide additional services to union 
members for a fixed monthly fee.   

     In the future, as more members go "on line," electronic 
systems will make intra-union communication quicker, easier and 
cheaper.  Most major electronic systems are connected through a 
complex web known as "The Internet," which lets overseas members 
like Bill Hinchberger, a freelance journalist in Brazil, 
participate in electronic discussions of union issues.  
Electronic communications can play a key role in helping the 
union "recruit foreign-based writers and in making and improving 
contacts with international journalists' groups," Hinchberger 
argued in a recent electronic memo to the union.  

     The Computer Services committee is working to expand 
electronic outreach to encompass any computer system with a 
substantial concentration of union members or a union-eligible 
writers.   

   

For more on-line information ... 

     Members who are already on-line and want to participate 
should communicate with any of the following on-line contacts.     

   Compuserve: Steve Askin at address 71307,2532  

     Peacenet: Brad Cleveland at bcleveland@igc.org

     The Well: Bruce Hartford as bruceh 

     Internet: Steve Askin at saskin@igc.apc.org 

     If you want more information, but are not yet on-line, 
National Office computer liaison Rob Hambrecht can put you in 
touch with an NWU computer services volunteer.  You can also 
reach Hambrecht and other National Office staff members at nwu on 
Peacenet or nwu@igc.apc.org from the "Internet."  The union will 
soon be establishing an account on Compuserve, as well. 
_____________________________________________________________ 
(c) 1992 National Writers Union.   

This article appeared in the Fall issue of the American Writer, the  
quarterly journal of the National Writers Union (UAW/AFL-CIO) 
873 Broadway, Suite 203, New York, NY 10003, Phone 212-254-0279,  
Fax 212-254-0673.  

Reproduction without permission is expressly prohibited, but  
requests to repost articles on electronic systems and forums 
serving writers are encouraged.  Send requests to:  
Compuserve 71307,2532 or Peacenet saskin. 
___________________________________________________________________ 
NOTE: Additional articles from the current American Writer will be 
posted next week. 
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive