Agreement Around Freelance Contributors to In These Times

The NATIONAL WRITERS UNION (NWU) and IN THESE TIMES have reached an agreement on IN THESE TIMES’ relationship with freelance contributors.

IN THESE TIMES agrees to follow this agreement in its dealings with freelancers.

Both NWU and IN THESE TIMES agree that freelancers are important to the quality and success of independent media and this publication, and that freelancers have a right to transparency about the work they do and accountability in their dealings with IN THESE TIMES. This agreement is an attempt to afford freelancers those rights and accountability, and to further demonstrate their value to IN THESE TIMES.

1. All freelance contributors will be provided a contract.

• 1.1 Freelancer will be notified in writing of the scope of the work of any assignment(s) the freelancer will do, including at least a one-sentence description of the work(s), fee(s) to be paid, expected word count(s), and any due date(s), and will acknowledge receipt of notification(s) by electronic communication. 
• 1.2 Freelancer contracts will detail the rights that the contributor is granting IN THESE TIMES. There will be no penalty for contributors requesting changes to this contract, though IN THESE TIMES is also not mandated to make those changes.
• 1.3 All freelancers doing work for IN THESE TIMES shall be provided a copy of this ​“Agreement Between the National Writers Union & In These Times” along with their contract for their work. This agreement will be noted prominently in the notifications of any assignment(s) the freelancer will do, including a short note for how the freelancer can join the NWU if they determine that is best and appropriate for them.
• 1.4 This agreement will also be readily available and accessible on the IN THESE TIMES website.

2. All freelancers will be compensated for their labor and work.

• 2.1 Work by freelancers for IN THESE TIMES shall be compensated at the following minimum rates: twenty-five cents ($0.25) to fifty cents ($0.50) per word for most work appearing in the print magazine; three hundred and seventy-five dollars ($375) for features, opinion and most other editorial pieces appearing online; one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) for producing (including, but not limited to, conducting, editing, transcribing and adding brief written context and/​or analysis) Q&A interviews appearing online and/​or in print; $250 for facilitating roundtable discussions (defined as the facilitator plus at least three other participants) and producing (including, but not limited to, conducting, editing, transcribing and adding brief written context and/​or analysis) an article based on the roundtable that appears online and/​or in print, and one hundred dollars ($100) for most content under 250 words appearing in print and/​or online. Some pieces of editorial and multimedia content such as photo essays, videos and audio projects do not have a set rate. The freelancer and In These Times may negotiate the price, but IN THESE TIMES is not obligated to accept any negotiated price for this content.
• 2.2 IN THESE TIMES is not required to pay freelancers these rates for reprints of previously published work.
• 2.3 IN THESE TIMES is not required to pay these rates to contributors who wish to waive their fees or to contributors who are not allowed to accept payment for publication due to professional or other conflicts or standards, or who are writing the article(s) as part of their job duties at a professional or other organization where they have full-time employment.
• 2.4 All freelancers are free to negotiate any rate with their editor at IN THESE TIMES they wish that is over and above these minimum rates. The minimum rate is not intended to be a standard rate for all contributors. The current standard rates at IN THESE TIMES will be published online on the In These Times website. Those standard rates may be adjusted at any time but will never be below the minimums listed in Section 2.1.
• 2.5 Any rate agreed to between the freelancer and editor at IN THESE TIMES will be entered in the freelancer’s contract/​notification prior to that agreement being signed by either party. 
• 2.6 Full payment of the fee owed to the freelancer will be made within 30 days of publication in print and/​or online, or from the date of the returned signed contract and individual assignment agreement by the freelancer, whichever is later. Kill fees for rejected work will be paid no later than 120 days after the freelancer acknowledges receipt of notice from IN THESE TIMES that the article/​content will not work out in any way.
• 2.7 IN THESE TIMES will authorize reprints of articles written by the freelancer(s) for free at its discretion, but if IN THESE TIMES does charge a one-time fee (which they sometimes do to large for-profit media companies, textbook publishers and/​or databases, among others), they will provide the freelancer with 50% of the fee.

3. IN THESE TIMES and NWU are committed to settling all disputes in a just and fair manner.

• 3.1 IN THESE TIMES will make every effort to work out any freelancer grievances on an informal basis.
• 3.2 If IN THESE TIMES cannot work out a freelancer’s grievances on an informal basis and if that freelancer designates a representative of NWU to meet with the magazine in an attempt to work out the grievance on the freelancer’s behalf, the process shall be as follows:
  • (a) Before filing a grievance, the aggrieved freelancer and/​or NWU representative will present the grievance to both the freelancer’s assignment editor at IN THESE TIMES and to the Executive Editor at IN THESE TIMES to try to resolve the matter without formal proceedings.
  • (b) If step (a) is unsuccessful, NWU shall submit the grievance in writing to both the freelancer’s assignment editor at IN THESE TIMES and to the Executive Editor at IN THESE TIMES or their designated representative.
  • © If there is no resolution within two weeks of step (b), there shall be a conciliation conference including the NWU representative, the freelancer, if possible, and both the freelancer’s assignment editor at IN THESE TIMES and the Executive Editor at IN THESE TIMES, or their designated representative. IN THESE TIMES shall then provide a written response to the grievance within three weeks of the conference. 
  • (d) If NWU and IN THESE TIMES cannot resolve the grievance, a board shall be convened consisting of one representative of NWU, one representative of IN THESE TIMES, and one member acceptable to both parties (that is agreed to in writing). The third member shall receive no compensation from either side for participation in this board. A majority opinion by the board on both the merits of the grievance as well as necessary steps, if needed, to ameliorate the situation(s) outlined in the grievance, shall be accepted by both parties.

4. IN THESE TIMES is committed to maintaining this agreement with NWU.

• 4.1 lf either party wishes to terminate this agreement they shall notify the other party in writing at least 90 days before they plan to end the agreement, but all reasonable steps should be taken to maintain the agreement and keep it in effect unless both parties mutually wish to terminate the agreement.
• 4.2 This agreement can be revised by mutual agreement of both parties. lf either party wishes to revisit or revise any or all parts of this agreement, they shall notify the other party in writing, and a meeting between NWU and IN THESE TIMES will be set within 30 days of acknowledged receipt of that notification.
• 4.3 This agreement also makes it clear that the freelancer does not consent to inclusion of the agreed-upon work as part of any third party licensing agreement outside the scope of this agreement that would use the content as training data for large language-learning models (LLMs), otherwise known as Generative AI, without prior written consent from the freelancer obtained at least 90 days before signing of such agreement between IN THESE TIMES and any third party. Request for such a letter of consent from the freelancer will trigger a renegotiation of any current or ongoing contracts and terms of remuneration between the freelancer and IN THESE TIMES.
• 4.4 IN THESE TIMES, which is based in Chicago, also complies with the Freelance Worker Protection Act (HB1122) of Illinois, which the National Writers Union had a hand in passing. This mandates that, among other things, companies in Illinois provide freelancers with a contract and pays them within 30 days of completing the services. Read more about HB1122 at labor​.illi​nois​.gov/​f​r​e​e​lance.

5. IN THESE TIMES is committed to ensuring the NWU logo is displayed clearly in and on the publication’s website and in the print magazine.

• 5.1 lN THESE TIMES agrees to display the NWU logo (“union bug”) both in the print magazine and on the website, and can designate themselves as a ​“union shop” with regard to their freelancers.
• 5.2 The NWU will supply lN THESE TIMES with the most up-to-date version of their logo and/​or union bug as soon as this agreement is signed and accepted by both parties, and NWU will send IN THESE TIMES any new versions of the logo as soon as they are publicly available. 
• 5.3 IN THESE TIMES will also note its agreement with NWU on its social media platforms.

For more information about the National Writers Union, visit: https://​nwu​.org/