Boston ©-party

FREELANCES working for the Boston Globe filed a "class action" lawsuit for "unfair and deceptive trade practices" against the Globe's owner, the New York Times company, on 12 June. The National Writers Union, American Society of Media Photographers and Graphic Artists Guild are supporting the action - Marx et al -v- Globe which aims to strike down the Globe's demand that freelances "sign or walk".

Plaintiff Bill Marx, a book critic for the Globe, accuses it of attempting a "brazenly deceptive strategy to grab our rights for decades of work in the past for nothing, and for no specified compensation in the future". Six Massachusetts Congresspeople have written to express their concern.