Culinary stunt

It's one thing to rain on someone's parade. It's entirely another to spray down a celebration with fire hoses - and then expect to be rewarded.

But that's the way the Culinary Local 226 rolls. The Las Vegas union is plotting what amounts to a picket takeover of Saturday's Rediscover Downtown event, a long-planned, well-coordinated campaign by downtown businesses inviting new customers to experience the area's revival.

The American Heart Association is staging a charity run and walk in the morning, downtown's museums are offering 2-for-1 tickets for locals, and restaurants and hotels - many of them staffed by Culinary workers - are discounting food and drinks. Arts District galleries will have special sales, and there will be plenty of live entertainment. The Review-Journal's special promotional section, published Wednesday, has the details. It's an all-day affair with something for everyone.

The Culinary, however, seems determined to play spoiler by picketing from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its contracts with downtown properties remain unsettled because the union wants better terms for medical and pension benefits, Culinary political director Yvanna Cancela said. She said the union has agreed to salary freezes.

A few thousand protesters could drive customers away from businesses that have worked hard to attract them. "People don't want to go where there is a perception of conflict," said Rich Worthington, chairman of the Downtown Las Vegas Alliance, which is producing Saturday's event.

To say nothing of the businesses themselves. Any company considering a relocation or expansion into downtown will have second thoughts if they know organized labor is prone to stomping all over their promotional investments.

Culinary Secretary-Treasurer D Taylor says the union doesn't want to scare people away from downtown. "We have the utmost respect and have been the biggest supporters of downtown," he wrote to the Review-Journal in an email. "Just like in years past we have a contract dispute, and workers will be picketing to protect their benefits."

For Culinary workers to realize better wages and benefits, the properties they work at need more business. Anything - anything - that has the potential to hurt downtown business directly hurts Culinary workers.

The union's anti-business modus operandi inspires political stunts that embarrass the hardworking men and women of the hotel and restaurant industries. These people depend on job creators and visitors to make a living, yet their union bosses compel them to discourage job-creating commerce.

On Saturday, instead of picketing, Culinary workers should join downtown business owners in rolling out red carpets. They should promote the businesses that can help them earn a higher standard of living, not hurt companies that somehow have survived a dreadful economy. Don't dump on this parade.