Deflating the Union Rat
A split Board concluded this week that a union did not engage in unlawful secondary activity under the NLRA when it stationed a 12-foot-tall inflatable rat—known all too well by employers as “Scabby the Rat”—and two 8-foot...more
Who is Scabby? Scabby is an inflatable rat, sometimes installed by unions at protests and on picket lines. Scabby has been around since the late 1980s and is a well-known symbol to passersby of an ongoing labor dispute....more
An age old question under the National Labor Relations Act is what constitutes “picketing”? By the Supreme Court’s definition, picketing is inherently coercive and may not be directed against a neutral employer. An issue...more
In a recent episode of Law Brief, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin’s new podcast series, Labor and Employment chair Laurent Drogin joins Litigation partner and host Rich Schoenstein to talk about Deflating the Union Rat. Laurent and...more
“Scabby the Rat” and “Corporate Fat Cat”…beware. A recent National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) Advice Memorandum has suggested that the use of oversized inflatable rats may constitute illegal secondary...more
Scabby, the gnarly, diseased, inflatable rat, has long been recognized as a symbol of a labor protest. During the Obama-era, the National Labor Relations Board likened the use of Scabby to peaceful, protected activities such...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rules that the NLRB properly found that a hospital violated the NLRA by threatening employees with discipline and arrest for peacefully picketing on hospital...more
The National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) recently addressed hospital employers’ ability to prohibit picketing by off-duty employees on their own premises. Although the Board concluded that a hospital employer may...more
Ralphs Grocery Company v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8, S185544 (December 27, 2012): The California Supreme Court recently held that although a supermarket’s privately owned entrance area is not a public...more
In a split decision, the California Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of two statutes that restrict state court injunctions against picketing by labor unions on private property. Ralphs Grocery Co. v. United Food...more