Strikers put on a show of strength

The stars were out on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame this week, but at least for a few hours it wasn’t about them. Instead it was about middle-class workers displaying unity with the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

Led by a pair of Teamster-driven 18-wheelers, thousands from a host of labor unions chanted their way down Hollywood Boulevard to demonstrate their solidarity with the writers who are in the third week of a strike focused on compensation in new media. With dozens of television shows shut down and some movies as well, the livelihoods of workers in Southern California’s $30-billion-a-year entertainment industry are threatened.

The march, which began near the iconic Capitol Records building, was meant to be a last show of force before negotiations resume between writers and the major studios Monday. The procession came to an end at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, where speakers exhorted the crowd to stay strong and hope for a resolution before Christmas.