By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

There's trouble in Tyler Perry's world.

Late Thursday night I received a press release from the Writers Guild of America, West announcing they had filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), claiming that Perry had four writers from 'House of Payne' unlawfully fired because they wanted the union to cover their employment with Perry's company.

Jeff Hermanson, an assistant executive director for the Writers Guild, said that the four writers, who were based in Los Angeles, were fired earlier this week after negotiations between the Writers Guild and representatives of Perry's Atlanta-based production company broke down.

Kellie Griffin, Christopher Moore, Teri Brown-Jackson and Lamont Ferrell are the four writers involved.

They had apparently written more than 100 episodes of 'House of Payne' and wanted the union to negotiate a deal with Perry's company so that they could get health care, pensions, and residuals from their episodes.

Team Perry balked at the idea of giving the writers what most deem fair business practice and allegedly terminated their employment because of it.

The four writers, who had been working on the development of Perry's second sitcom, 'Meet The Browns,' and supporters from the Writers Guild plan to picket the two-day celebration of the opening of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

"We're asking all those who had planned to attend the opening of Tyler Perry's new studio not to cross our picket line," writer Moore said in the statement. "It's very disheartening considering that this is a studio run by African-Americans. What Tyler Perry is essentially saying to us is that 'you're black and there's not a lot of opportunities for you so you'll take what I give you' – whether it's fair or not."

The writers claimed that they had been threatened several weeks ago by Perry's company to "be careful about pushing the WGA deal or you could be replaced."

"I feel like I was slapped in the face, like we were used," said Brown-Jackson. "We were good enough to create over 100 episodes, but now when it comes to reaping the benefits of the show being syndicated and having other spin-offs from it, he decides to let us go unless we accept a horrible offer."

Writer Ferrell shares her sentiments.

"Disrespected, betrayed, saddened...it's hard to describe," he offered. "The actors and a majority of the production crew on the show were working under union contracts and they received the pay and benefits that you need to survive on in this business. But after all those episodes and success when it came time for us to get a fair contract, we're told on a conference call 'sorry, you're fired.'"

Part of Perry's success with both is films and television series has been rallying up African-Americans and convincing them that the triumph in him doing well is that the community as a whole benefits.

'House of Payne' head writer Griffin believes that Perry's questionable termination of the writers for seeking fair contracts contradicts the very thing the Hollywood mogul claims he stands for.

"A lot of people who fought for civil rights and social justice never really saw what eventually came out of their work. While I'd like to see something positive come out of this for us, if this fight helps future black writers get what they deserve, that's a good thing," said Griffin .

In a statement to the 'New York Times,' Matt Johnson, a Los Angeles attorney representing Perry said the writers' firing had nothing to do with the contract negotiation but was instead related to "the quality of their work."

"We continue to work toward a resolution of their contract, and after months of negotiations we have reached agreement with the Guild on every major issue but one," he countered.

Johnson indicated the one issue was residuals from repeats shown on broadcast television stations.

The attorney also said the three other writers on the show were asked to stay and that two of them did.

In the release sent by the WGAW Organizing Department, they also point out that Perry "signed a deal with TBS for $200 million and sold the syndicated rights to MyNetwork [TV] for $100 million."

He also made history because "'House of Payne' is the highest-rated sitcom in the history of basic cable."

That milestone landed Perry several "NAACP Image Awards for the much-needed diversity his films and TV shows bring to the screen."

Nonetheless, the WGAW believes that "Perry doesn't do it all himself. [The] writers helped 'House of Payne' become the success that it is."

Despite having "written over 100 episodes of 'House of Payne' in just two seasons" they all "received compensation well below industry standards, no health care benefits and no residuals."

The writers are planning to picket this weekend in Atlanta at the opening of Tyler Perry Studios, a 28-acre production complex that Mr. Perry built outside Atlanta .