1981 – The “Why a Union?” workshop at the Nation Institute’s Writers’ Congress draws an overflow crowd. The plenary of 3,000 writers endorses the proposal to create a union for writers in all genres to actively press for better pay and treatment and to vigorously oppose Reagan-era threats to free expression. “We need no more heroic individual writers,” said keynote speaker Toni Morrison. She called for “an accessible organization that is truly representative of the diverse interests of all writers.”

The purpose of the NWU is to promote and protect the rights, interests, and economic advancement of members; to organize writers to improve professional working conditions through collective bargaining action; and to provide professional services to members.