The Huffington Post has a labor disput on its hands.

The Newspaper Guild (a union for newspaper writers) has asked The Huffington Post to start paying its unpaid bloggers. The Huffington Post, in reply, says "nearly all of our bloggers are happy with the [unpaid] arrangement." In essence, it's like the NFL labor dispute getting all the media attention, except with fewer steroids and less of Tom Brady's hair.

This is an issue for little unknown bloggers of the world. (Not for me. I have a cult following numbering in the tens.) If you want an outlet to write and be read, well, The Huffington Post exists. But it doesn't pay. But it is profitable to The Huffington Post. Specifically, it's profitable to the tune of $315 million, which is what The Huffington Post made off its merger with AOL recently.

Now, if you'll allow me to put on my Brother Comrade hat for a moment, this is insanity. No writer is "happy" to be unpaid. Rii-i-ight. We writers like to take that starving artist vibe to the max. A paycheck? Pssh. That just means I could eat--and eating means I wouldn't be starving, which means I'll lose half my credibility of being a starving artist.

Yes, a steady stream of roving eyeballs reading your work is great. But you know what's greater? When you can eat and pay your rent, too. And if the company you write for just banked $315 million, ehhh...my math skills aren't so hot, but I think they have a little coin to spread around and pay some people.