Police Union Rejects Mayor’s Mediation Plan

Holding onto a critical bargaining chip--the World Cup games--the union for disgruntled Los Angeles police officers Wednesday rejected Mayor Richard Riordan’s proposal to bring in an outside mediator to help settle their labor dispute.

The Police Protective League’s action was a gamble. It prompted the city to immediately declare an impasse, which ultimately could allow the city to impose the contract it wants. But union leaders needed to take the chance to stay in step with their membership--an increasingly militant group that has already ousted one team of negotiators that it felt was not tough enough.

A job action during the upcoming soccer tournament is unlikely to paralyze the massive security effort: The LAPD can easily force its officers to work during the World Cup by declaring a tactical alert. But staging something similar to the “blue flu II” sickout--which ended Wednesday--would cost the city millions of dollars in overtime. And officers could still embarrass the city by publicizing their cause while Los Angeles is in the world’s eye, union officials said.

“You’re going to have the world’s media here and a whole lot of disgruntled cops,” said union spokesman Geoffrey Garfield. “If any incident breaks out, we can say, ‘We told you so--public safety is important.’ That will make our argument for us.”

The union’s order that members refuse voluntary overtime during the World Cup games has stirred some concern among neighboring law enforcement agencies, which have spent more than a year working with the LAPD on plans for the tournament, which begins June 17.

“They have some very important policing functions to perform,” said Capt. Dan Burt, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “This is going to be a monumental undertaking.”

Although the games will be played in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, outside Los Angeles city limits, the LAPD is responsible for a number of duties, such as guarding dignitaries and tourists who stay in or travel through Los Angeles.

“We certainly hope that any dispute would be resolved by the time the games begin,” said World Cup spokesman Toby Zwikel. “(But) World Cup definitely has a very thorough security plan that will be in place. The public should be assured of that.”

LAPD officials say that although officers can refuse voluntary overtime, they cannot disobey a direct order to work overtime. That would constitute insubordination and would almost certainly result in dismissal from the force.

“This proposed voluntary overtime boycott would not affect any issues of public safety,” Cmdr. David J. Gascon said. “If I’m a commander and I say I need somebody, I’m going to get them.”

Police ended their three-day blue flu Wednesday morning, when 226 out of 458 officers on the morning watch called in sick. But they continued their campaign for a raise by protesting en masse at an evening speech by Riordan before a group of Hancock Park homeowners at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. Hundreds of officers carried picket signs and handed out flyers asking for the public’s help.

When Riordan tried to speak, officers booed and angrily shouted him down. The mayor, who became frazzled at times, shouted his message above the din and ended by calling the Police Department “the greatest in the world.”

Afterward, Riordan said he took the police demonstration in stride.

“I felt that the officers were venting their anger and frustration,” he said. “I didn’t take it personally--I feel like I’m their partner and ally.”

To counter the city’s suggestion that a non-binding mediator be appointed, the union insisted on binding arbitration. The city rejected that. The resulting stalemate prompted the city to declare an impasse, an action that could give the city the authority to impose a contract.

As the Police Protective League has tangled with the city in the current contract talks, it has veered back and forth between confrontation and conciliation--partly in an attempt by league leaders to stay close to what they believe their membership wants.

The union, insistent that the city has more money hidden in its coffers, argued that non-binding mediation was a delaying tactic to take away the union’s most potent threat--a job action during the World Cup.

That, they feared, could have alienated their already angry troops.

In the early 1980s, the last time officers were locked in a contract dispute with the city, a mediator sided with the city.

“It’s important for the membership to know we’re not selling them out,” said union President Danny Staggs. “If this city is forcing something on the membership, then the bad guys are the City Council.”

The city’s labor relations rules give it an advantage over unions in negotiations. If talks ultimately fail to settle a dispute, the city has the final word.

The city has opposed binding arbitration--in which an impartial outsider would unilaterally resolve the dispute--because it takes too much control away from its negotiators. The mediator that the city wanted would have been strictly advisory.

Before an impasse becomes final, the city is required to hold a final meeting with the union and notify the state. Then the state can order a mediator brought in or a formal fact-finding proceeding in which the two sides argue their cases.

In the end, the city can decide whether it wishes to follow the resulting recommendation or impose a different contract.

Staggs said it would be unwise for city officials to force a contract on officers.

Officers have shown that they are so frustrated that they will act even without the union, Staggs said. There was widespread participation in this week’s unauthorized blue flu. Earlier, officers overwhelmingly rejected a contract proposal that the union leadership brokered with the city.

That deal called for a 6% pay raise over the next two years. Among other things, officers have insisted on retroactive pay for the two years that they have worked without a contract.

The union leadership is well aware of the perils of alienating its members. In 1978, union leaders endorsed Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. for governor, and they were swept from office by outraged police officers. The blistering reaction to that endorsement has made the league much more cautious in recent elections.

Dave Zeigler, a league director who served as president last year, pushed for the blue flu in November. But when a judge halted that protest after one day and it did not produce a contract, Zeigler was replaced by Staggs, who was perceived as a City Hall player who might be able to deliver where Zeigler could not.

Staggs has now come under attack himself, the subject of an ongoing recall effort by officers.