Reminder: "Free speech" does not include the right to a paid platform. Publishers choose who they publish, who they hire and how they deal with their staff. That's because they are an industry, not a soap box in Hyde Park.
At the same time, the @Soc_of_Authors will always fight on behalf of its members if a contract has been infringed, or if publishers try to impose morality clauses on its authors. That is a contractual issue, and your union is there to represent you, whatever your personal views.
However, if you, as an author, do express controversial views, your union cannot protect you from the public's reaction, be that a decline in sales, or a response on social media. And such a reaction may well affect your relationship with your publisher...
So, yes. you're free to express your views on your own turf, and in your own time. But other people are also free to dislike or disagree with them. And in an industry based on popularity, if you lose your public's support, you risk losing your saleability, too.
Which is why, although the @Soc_of_Authors can help authors whose existing contracts have been infringed, they can't force publishers to keep renewing the contracts of authors who - for whatever reason - may have lost their popularity.
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