Deflating the Union Rat
Join our interdisciplinary panel of Amundsen Davis attorneys for a half-day livestream seminar highlighting the key issues and emerging trends impacting the construction industry. With an eye toward 2025 and beyond, sessions...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
It’s become increasingly common for businesses to subcontract workers to perform jobs at a location that is shared with the business or other neutral third parties. When picketing at common job sites shared by the employees...more
The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO Act) (H.R. 842) is a sweeping effort to amend longstanding labor laws to facilitate union and employee organizing efforts. The union-friendly legislation would make the most...more
As the 2021 construction season gets underway, and with an increasing number of construction projects being completed with a mix of union and non-union subcontractors, many workers have legitimate questions about their rights...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
The saga of Scabby the Rat continues with the transition of the Biden administration and the recent unceremonious ouster of now-former General Counsel Robb. The debate focuses on whether the presence of Scabby, the large...more
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Peter Ohr has filed a motion with the board to stop processing a case on whether to change NLRB standard for determining the lawfulness of union displays of...more
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had invited briefs on bannering and displays of “Scabby the Rat,” the giant roadside inflatable rat (or other gruesome creature) used in many labor disputes. At issue is the...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
It is unlawful for unions to secondarily picket construction sites or to coercively enmesh neutral parties in the disputes that a union may have with another employer. This area of the law is governed by the National Labor...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
Continuing its efforts to overturn precedent, the NLRB General Counsel’s Division of Advice has issued a new advice memorandum looking to strike at the most recognizable sign of unionism in urban areas today – – the...more
We recently saw interesting decisions from the NLRB including cases about the employer’s duty to provide information about tax cuts, the lawfulness of litigation holds, and the validity of decertification petitions. At the...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
To address violence and prolonged strikes in the context of Constitutional rights and to find ways of strengthening and promoting collective bargaining in South Africa, the Labour Relations Amendment Bill, 2017 (the Bill)...more
The Board is now operating at a full complement and is issuing decisions on a fairly regular basis. Nothing earth shattering in terms of law (which is kind of a relief) but there are some interesting issues worth discussing....more
According to the Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations, Brendan O’Connor, (collective) bargaining power has tilted too much in favour of employers. This would rankle many an employer who, amongst other things, would feel...more
Labor Day is upon us. It is fitting, therefore, to enter the weekend with another case that exemplifies the bizarre world of labor relations. Like the case of the human resource manager who turned on his employer, or the...more
“If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!” That’s essentially what a group of Teamsters told Top Chef host personality, Padma Lakshmi, back in June 2014 outside of Steel & Rye restaurant in Milton, Massachusetts....more
Seeing men and women carrying placards in your front yard or outside of your business is never a comfortable feeling. Unions use picketing to organize workers; in other words, to convince workers that they should join a union...more
Springing into action – start date for Trade Union Act - The Trade Union Act 2016 will come into force on 1 March 2017. The new rules apply to any industrial action for which the ballot opens (by sending out voting...more
A case currently under consideration in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals deserves watching. The case will determine whether the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects a picketing employee’s right to hurl racist...more