John Edwards to Speak at Writers Guild Rally in New York Democratic Presidential Candidate to Join WGA at Washington Square Park By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/26/2007 1:15:00 PM Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards is slated to speak at the rally the striking Writers Guild of America is holding Tuesday in Manhattan, according to union officials. The WGA East is expecting almost 1,000 people to be at its lunchtime Solidarity Rally in Washington Square Park, with Edwards on the roster as a speaker. Also scheduled to be on hand at the demonstration are Congressman Jerry Nadler, Tim Robbins, Joe Pantoliano, Colin Quinn, Aasif Mandvi, Tony Goldwyn, Evan Handler, Gilbert Gottfried, Randi Weingarten of the United Federation of Teachers, Ed Ott of the Central Labor Council, Gary Lebarbera and Denis Hughes of the New York State AFL-CIO, Screen Actors Guild New York president Sam Freed and former national SAG president Richard Masur. All three Democratic Presidential candidates -- Edwards, Sen. Hilary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama – have voiced their support for the WGA in its strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. [...but only Edwards actually showed up at the picket line!! - Teh Editor] The strike started Nov. 5, and the writers and studios resumed talks Monday, week after negotiations broke off Nov. 4. Edwards, Clinton and Obama last week said they will not cross picket lines if CBS News employees, who are also WGA members, go on strike. The CBS News workers have authorized a strike in their dispute with CBS. If there is a CBS News strike, it could put the kibosh on a Dec. 10 debate among the Democratic presidential candidates that CBS is scheduled to broadcast.

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From the Guild: Labor Solidarity with Writers: Rally on Tuesday, November 27 at Washington Square Park. Solidarity Rally Tuesday, November 27 Washington Square Park 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. DOWNLOAD THE FLYER! Join your fellow members of the Writers Guild of America, the labor community, and supporters and fans, as the WGA begins week four of its strike against the media conglomerates of the AMPTP. Recently confirmed participants include: Senator John Edwards, Congressman Jerry Nadler, Tim Robbins, Michael Emerson, Joe Pantoliano, Colin Quinn, Aasif Mandvi, Tony Goldwyn, Evan Handler, Gilbert Gottfried, Randi Weingarten (UFT), Gary Le Barbera and Ed Ott (Central Labor Council), Denis M. Hughes (NYS AFL-CIO), Sam Freed (SAG NY President), Richard Masur (former national president of SAG), WGAE leaders, and more. We are expecting a huge showing of solidarity from other New York Unions. Joining the striking WGAE members at the rally will be leaders in the labor community, politicians, and exciting speakers from the entertainment community. Meet us at Washington Square Park for a Solidarity Rally. We’re expecting a large attendance from the union community -- including SEIU, AFTRA, SAG, UNITE-HERE, AFT, NYS AFL-CIO, national AFL-CIO, and the New York City Central Labor Council among others -- as well as some exciting speakers, music and entertainment. We want to thank the thousands of union members from every industry who have joined us on the picket lines from New York to Los Angeles and stood with us to preserve decent working standards against corporate power. Now that we’re going back to the table, it’s even more important to send the companies a strong message: We’re all in this together and we demand a fair deal!

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