Freebies From Freelancers Union

Yesterday, I received a goody envelope from The Freelancers Union. It included a notebook, pen, chocolates and bookmarks. If you're not familiar with them, the union is a wonderful resource for finding jobs, networking, health insurance and more. They even have an online contract creator for independent workers.

Last week Kaitlyn from The Freelancers Union asked me if I would share my story of unpaid wages with the New York Post. I said sure. Back in 2006 I worked for a small ad agency called The Coastal Group. Little did I know, that the owners David and Todd Weiss, were jerks. Each week it became increasingly difficult to get paid. After a month, I left. I continued to try to collect the $5000 they owed me for two weeks of unpaid work. I eventually took them to small claims court. The Weiss brothers were a no-show. The judgement was in my favor. The problem with small claims court is that there is no support or enforcement of a ruling. It was pretty much up to me to find these jerks and get my money. By the time of my court ruling, they had closed shop. I did find this youtube video about them.

Overall, I was happy with the article. Although, the writer neglected to mention the Coastal Group and referred to them as a printing company. Secondly, I look weird in the photo. Nevertheless, The Freelancers Union sent the article to all New York State legislators. The Union is trying to get an act passed to protect independent workers and help them get paid when clients don't pay. Fingers crossed that the legislation gets passed and the legislators think I look cute.