Woes for ''Love and War''

Murphy Brown producer Diane English may be a darling of political liberals, but her labor practices recently have seemed downright reactionary. The International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees is outraged that English replaced the union crew of her new sitcom, Love and War, with scabs.

The War blaze got so hot that English withdrew from the ACLU’s Torch of Liberty dinner on Aug. 21 in Beverly Hills, where she would have been honored for her Quayle bashing, but roasted by picketing workers outside.

While English’s union-crewed Murphy Brown has an IATSE deal with Warner Bros., Love and War Productions, which produces War, does not. When IATSE spokesman Harry Floyd called English’s action worthy of ”a Dan Quayle supporter,” English fired back, charging IATSE with ”old-line thug tactics.” Though English has no comment, money is most surely a factor. Says a Studio Center official: ”Producers have to spend wisely.” Hollywood is watching the situation, he says. ”If IATSE loses, it opens the door” to excluding the union from other shows.