WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Freelance writers, solitary and independent creatures by nature, are banding together in solidarity as part of a national movement to demand the Huffington Post to end its exploitive business practices and provide just compensation for its labor.

Spurred to action by Huffington Post's announced $315 million merger with AOL, the writers are calling attention to the huge profits reaped by a business model that relies on the unpaid labor of thousands of hard-working journalists.

Led by The Newspaper Guild, the movement has now launched a letter-writing campaign to urge Huffington to show her commitment to journalism and to demonstrate her support of fair wages for her writers.

In conjunction with The Guild Freelancers, TNG has also launched a rapidly growing Facebook page, Hey Arianna, Can You Spare a Dime? http://www.facebook.com/heyarianna?v=wall.

The petition, http://action.cwa-union.org/c/799/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1486, sent out to Ms. Huffington reads:

"After building a media empire based on unpaid writers and republishing the work of others, the Huffington Post was sold to AOL for $315 million. We are calling on Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington to invest in quality journalism by sharing a portion of this fortune with the people who made her successful."

"As we look to the future, we look to you, Arianna Huffington, as a leader in web-based news coverage, to demonstrate your commitment to the value of journalism, and to help prevent independent journalists from having to settle for third-world wages."

SOURCE The Newspaper Guild