LABOR WATCH : Tacky Tactic

Scare tactics are nothing new in hardball union contract negotiations. Unfortunately, the scare tactic in vogue for unions in Los Angeles seems to be: “Give us what we want or we’ll tell everyone what a terrible place L.A. is.”

It was not a wise strategy in 1992 when the Los Angeles Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union used it. It was not a wise strategy when United Teachers-Los Angeles threatened to use it later the same year. And it’s not a smart strategy now for the Police Protective League.

Police union officials threatened this week to distribute a video warning tourists that Los Angeles is a dangerous place to visit. The video would include footage from the 1992 riots and crime statistics intended to alarm potential tourists and conventioneers.

In fact, violent crime in Los Angeles is lower than in most other major cities. But beyond that fact is the incredible shortsightedness of this ploy. If L.A. unions scare away tourism dollars, how does that help their members get paid more?

That isn’t to say that beleaguered LAPD officers don’t deserve support, because they do. The city’s decision to grant 9% pay raises over four years to Department of Water and Power workers last fall, when police had worked for well over a year without a contract, understandably sticks in the craw of most officers. But bad-mouthing the city, and discouraging the inflow of cash, won’t fill officers’ checkbooks. Surely cooler heads in the police union can make the case that this is a tactic best left unpursued.