Freelancers Union

2008.2.15 NOW on PBS
Benefits Denied Hosted by David Brancaccio, Produced by Jennie Amias
Watch online: Part of NOW's "Enterprising Ideas" series, this episode focuses on Freelancers Union's efforts to update the social safety net, and on the issues facing independent workers.

2008.1.7 New York Post
Battle Lines by Chris Erikson
"Where's the safety net for people working outside the corporate umbrella? Nobody spends more time pondering such questions than Sara Horowitz, the president of the six-year-old Freelancers Union. . . . [She] sat down with @work recently to talk about what the Viacom strike means, how times are changing and why workers should no longer expect employers to take care of them."

2007.12.13 Financial Times
Workers of the New World, unite! by John Gapper
"Logically, there ought to be a place for unions or mutual organisations to establish health insurance and pensions for freelancers. Indeed, the Freelancers Union, a New York-based mutual group, is already doing so. The idea that workers should band together outside the workplace is old: the co-operative movement has a long history in both the UK and US. But its insurance-based health system and defined-contribution pension schemes make the US fertile territory for the workers of the new world to unite."

2007.11.13 Talk of the Nation
More Americans Choosing to Work from Home
Freelancers Union Executive Director Sara Horowitz appears as a guest on the NPR talk show.

2007.01.27 New York Times
Labor Union, Redefined, for Freelance Workers by Steven Greenhouse
"A former labor lawyer, Ms. Horowitz intends to form a forceful advocacy group for freelancers and independent contractors, the most mobile members of an increasingly mobile work force. In addition, she is trying to adapt unions to a world far different from yesteryear, when workers often remained with one employer for two or three decades. 'This really is about a new unionism,' she said, 'and what it means is to bring people together to solve their problems.'"

2006.11.11 The Economist
Freelancers of the world, unite!
"Not for nothing has Ms Horowitz been described as the 'quintessential example' of a social entrepreneur--someone who applies the innovative spirit and discipline of a Silicon Valley start-up to try to solve society's thorniest problems . . ."

more news highlights

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Sara Horowitz founded Working Today - Freelancers Union in 1995 to represent the needs and concerns of the growing independent workforce. In recognition of her efforts to create a self-sustaining organization of flexible workers, Horowitz was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1999. Before founding Freelancers Union, Horowitz worked as a labor attorney, a union organizer, and a public defender in New York City. A lifelong resident of Brooklyn, she holds degrees from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, SUNY Buffalo Law School, and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Freelancers Union seeks to update the nation's social safety net, developing systems so that all working people can access affordable benefits, regardless of their job arrangements. As executive director, Horowitz takes an entrepreneurial approach, pursuing creative, market-based solutions to pressing social problems. In 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008, Working Today - Freelancers Union was recognized as a leading social entrepreneur by Fast Company magazine. Horowitz is the Treasurer and Finance Chair of the Nathan Cummings Foundation and is on the board of the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation.

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Sara Horowitz founded Working Today in 1995 to represent the needs and concerns of the growing independent workforce. Working Today built Freelancers Union to pioneer a new form of unionism, and the organization now has 70,000 members nationwide. Freelancers Union seeks to update the nation’s social safety net, developing systems so that all working people can access affordable benefits, regardless of their job arrangements. As executive director, Sara takes an entrepreneurial approach, pursuing creative, market-based solutions to pressing social problems.

In recognition of her efforts to create a self-sustaining organization of flexible workers, Sara was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1999. Before founding Working Today, Sara was a labor attorney in private practice and a union organizer with 1199, the National Health and Human Service Employees Union. Prior to joining 1199, Sara was a public defender in New York City.

A lifelong resident of Brooklyn, NY, Sara comes from a long line of labor advocates, including her father, who was a labor lawyer, and her grandfather, who was vice president of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. This family history of involvement in the labor movement led Sara to Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where she was awarded its labor prize. She later earned a law degree cum laude from the SUNY Buffalo Law School and a master's degree from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Sara is the Treasurer and Finance Chair of the Nathan Cummings Foundation and is on the board of the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation. Freelancers Union has been featured throughout the popular and business press, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Wired and Fast Company; as well as on NOW with David Brancaccio, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered. Working Today has been recognized four times as one of the leading social entrepreneurs by Fast Company magazine.

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Sara Horowitz, Founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union

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