Airing of Grievances

This is why I have an occasional issue with labor unions:

According to Variety, a year after the end of the 2007-2008 writers' strike, the WGA -- the Writers Guild of America -- is moving forward with plans to discipline Jay Leno for going back on the air while the work stoppage was still in effect. Leno is a member of the Guild and was therefore "forbidden" to work during the walkout, but made the decision to bring The Tonight Show back two months into the strike when it looked like there was no end in sight and because a majority of his staff is non-union, meaning that -- as Leno said at the time -- "19 people (were) putting 160 people out of work."

In an effort to conform to the strict union guidelines, Leno scrapped all segments that would normally be penned by his Guild writers and reportedly wrote his own monologue each night during the strike that his show was on air. To say that Leno's actions were not only reasonable but conciliatory and even honorable would be an understatement. There's a reason Leno is one of the most well-liked people in show business. Having worked in the same building with him for about a year back in 2000, I can tell you that he seems at least to be a genuinely good guy. He smiles warmly and says hello to everyone he comes across (even someone like myself, who was nothing more than a guy he passed in the hall or stood in line with at the commissary); he's the first in the door in the morning and the last one to leave at night (when he could easily just phone it in and let his staff do all the work for him); he's the furthest thing from a pompous prima-donna -- which isn't bad for a TV star who's worth a fortune. Bottom line: Leno doesn't deserve to be railroaded, particularly not a year after the fact.

But the Writers Guild of America doesn't always care about doing what's right -- nor is it generally arrogance-free enough to do what's politically smart.

Going after Leno is a mistake.

All it will do is generate unnecessary bad press and draw more fire from those who already see the WGA as a bunch of juvenile whiners on a power trip -- even if this assessment is incorrect.

The Guild won out in what was a fair and, yes, necessary strike. It should leave it at that and not start making an example of its own just because it feels slighted.