UNIONS ARE THE BACKBONE OF MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA

Jane, Howie, screen writers and some striking sax player

NY Times editorial writers or reporters have derided the striking screen writers as a bunch of latte drinkers. I've never tasted a latte-- or any kind of coffee-- and Jane, Irwing and I weren't out for any refreshments today when we joined the WGA (Writers Guild of America) in front of the Fox Studios in West L.A. Fortunately while the 3 of us were marching up and down picketing and cheering on the strikers, Digby was doing the really heavy lifting. Her analysis of the strike, as one would expect, is spot on.

You hear a lot of nasty snark in this town about how these WGA strikers are all millionaires playing at being hardhats, and it totally misses the point. The union movement is about solidarity, which is a fundamental progressive value. I have no idea if those fellows in the store were highly paid TV writers or hopeful freelance screenwriters or what, but it wasn't relevant to the conversation. Those four guys had interests in common in their relationship to the owners of their industries. Unions are one of the vehicles that can make our capitalist society work to the benefit of all and not just the few.

The derisive tone much of the media has taken to the strike is nothing new, by the way. Just a few weeks back when the UAW went on strike against GM, Jim Cramer was apoplectic on Hardball screaming, "They have to break this union! They have to break this union!"(and Chris Salt-Of-The-Earth Matthews nodded in agreement.)

And they have always been especially hostile to the Hollywood unions, which were forged back in the day with battles in the streets. The right to organize in the entertainment business was extremely hard won and in many cases those who fought it were later blacklisted as commies for their trouble. It's never been frivolous. The propensity to exploit in competitive "glamour" fields is very, very strong and it was always about making sure that those who weren't on the A-list could make a decent living and build normal middle class lives. (And from the beginning many of the A-list marched in solidarity with their less rich and famous brethren. It may even have been partially in self-interest. Show business may be one of the most insecure professions on earth.)

Writers Damon Lindelof (Lost) Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives) explain what's going on from their perspective: