Members of the Writers Guild of America have walked out, as of midnight. So, it’s to the picket lines, my friends–where I am headed in about one hour. If you are in New York City, here’s what the Guild sent out yesterday:

The Writers Guild will go on strike Monday, November 5th at 12:01 AM. As soon as the strike starts at 12:01 a.m. in your home time zone, all Guild-covered work under the MBA must cease.

Join fellow writers on the picket line this week. On Monday, we will be picketing around Rockefeller Plaza on 49th St. from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

    So, get out there. And don’t just come out the first day–this could go on for some time and the writers need support. I don’t know the deets on the West Coast actions but if you are in Los Angeles, it’s likely that the pickets will go up around the studios (say the CBS studio in mid-Fairfax area).

    The issues are pretty clear–and you can read about them here.

UPDATE: a quick report from the picket line. I was out there for most of the morning and headed back soon. Spirits were high–the picket line was full with WGA members…one dog…and Tina Fey (who, of course, attracted a lot of media attention). The strikers see the issues quite clearly as greed versus fairness. Let’s see if the media give this any better coverage…so far, it’s been woeful. By the way, one thought occurred to me–the industry is trying to portray the strikers as well-to-do workers who, the industry claims, make an average of $200,000. That’s ludicrous. There are a few people who make big salaries which skews the average number. One way of thinking of this is: if you and Bill Gates are in the same room, the average net worth in the room is many billions of dollars. Presto! You are now well off. The true barometer is the MEDIAN wage and, when using that measure, you can more easily see that the large majority of WGA members are just trying to make a middle-class living with health care and a pension.