Deflating the Union Rat
Illinois has enacted two amendments to its Labor Disputes Act (820 ILCS 5). The first, HB 2907 (P.A. 103-0040), limits the amount of monetary damages an employer can recover stemming from a labor dispute. The second, HB 3396...more
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
On the final day of 2020, the Eleventh District Court of Appeals (Portage County), held that an Ohio law which restricted the picketing of private homes and private offices of public officials was unconstitutional under both...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: On August 10, 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that would permit striking workers to collect unemployment benefits in New Jersey. The law covers any claim for a period of unemployment commencing on...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
Ralphs Grocery sought an injunction to prevent a labor union from picketing on the privately owned walkway in front of the only customer entrance to its store....more
The California Supreme Court recently issued its decision in Ralphs Grocery Company v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 8. Although the ruling resolved a long-standing dispute between a supermarket owner and the...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