CBS News Writers May Be Next on Picket Line

CBS News Writers May Be Next on Picket Line

by Tula Connell, Nov 20, 2007

CBS News writers authorized their union, the Writers Guild of America, to call a national strike. Some 500 CBS News television and radio writers have been working under an expired contract since April 2005.

Broadcast writers across the nation have been on strike since Nov. 5, seeking a contract that includes a formula for fair compensation for their work when it is broadcast on the Internet, downloaded to iPods or cell phones or distributed via DVD. (Check out the video created by writers of the Stephen Colbert show, members of Writers Guild of America, East, for a fun look at why writers are on strike.)

As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said today:

The AFL-CIO proudly supports our fellow AFL-CIO union, the Writer’s Guild of America, East, and its sister union, the Writer’s Guild of America, West, in their current fight to win a fair contract for their striking television and screenwriter members