New Jersey-based independent contractor advocate Kim Kavin has been awarded with the prestigious annual Defender of Worker Freedom award by the Institute for the American Worker, for championing policies that empower the American worker.
Kavin has established herself as the state’s leading advocate for independent contractors in fighting the New Jersey Department of Labor’s controversial rule proposal that will make it much more difficult to be a freelance worker in the state.
That rule proposal has garnered more than 9,500 letters, with more than 99% of them opposing it.
“Kim Kavin continues to publicize the struggles independent workers face against government overreach and bring real life context to how specific regulations would hinder their ability to prosper,” said I4AW President F. Vincent Vernuccio.
Kavin is a lifelong writer and editor who started as a freelancer in 2003 after a decade in staff roles.
In 2019, she co-founded the grassroots advocacy group Fight for Freelancers, where she organized and educated thousands of independent contractors.
In 2021, the American Society of Journalists and Authors presented her with its Exceptional Service Award for “leadership and heroic efforts on behalf of freelance writers” in the fights against two pieces of legislation that would destroy the independent contracting model— California’s Assembly Bill 5, a state statute that went into effect in 2020, and also the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
Kim first testified before Congress about the need to protect independent contractors in 2023 and has since met with individual members of Congress and their staff to advocate for the rights of independent workers.
She also writes the “Freelance Busting” newsletter on Substack.
In addition to Kavin, I4AW also honored Missouri Rep. Robert F. Onder, M.D., J.D. with its annual Defender of Worker Freedom award in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 4.
