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Inflatable rats, Union rats, or Scabby rats, are giant inflatables in the shape of cartoon
rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...
s, commonly used in the
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by protesting or striking
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
s. They serve as a sign of opposition against employers or nonunion contractors and are intended to call public attention to companies employing nonunion labor or engaging in union-busting activities.


History

The first known inflatable rat was used by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 in
Plainfield, Illinois Plainfield is a village (Illinois), village in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 44,762 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the C ...
in 1989, according to photos from the ''Local 150 Engineer'' in November 1989, which also launched a "Name the Rat" contest. In January 1990, it announced that "Scabby" was the winning submission, in reference to the slang "scab" for
strikebreaker A strikebreaker (sometimes pejoratively called a scab, blackleg, bootlicker, blackguard or knobstick) is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees ( union members or not), or new hires to keep the orga ...
s and non-striking workers, coming from Local 150 member Lou Mahieu. An alternative origin story credits the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers who credit Ken Lambert with the design in 1990 or 1991, a member of the Chicago District Council, and claim to still have the original model in their Chicago office storage. The inflatable rats all originated from one American manufacturer, a company called Big Sky, who produced
hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...
s and standalone inflatables. It was commissioned by Lambert and designed by one of the co-owners, who Lambert asked to make the design to be "'meaner looking,' with big claws and 'festering nipples,'" with "menacing" fingers and whiskers and "more scabrous" belly. Other unions also began using inflatable rats in the 1990s to shame companies that employ nonunion labor. In part as a result of increasing business from unions, Big Sky’s sales doubled between 1990 and 1991, and developed other "union inflatables," such as a cockroach, a “Corporate Fat Cat,” a “Greedy Pig”. It was estimated that Big Sky at one point sold a half-dozen Scabbies per month at a price of up to $10,000 each. Now many American unions own dozens of the inflatable rat for use in labor disputes. Notably, Big Sky was not a
union shop In labor law, a union shop, also known as a post-entry closed shop, is a form of a union security clause. Under this, the employer agrees to either only hire labor union members or to require that any new employees who are not already union mem ...
, and likely outsourced their manufacturing of Scabbies as early as 1997, and later claimed to stop selling union inflatables when its owner became a supporter of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
. Employers have filed lawsuits charging that the use of the giant inflatable rats constituted unlawful
picketing Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pi ...
, and some courts have agreed. In May 2011, the
National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
(NLRB) held that union use of an inflatable monster rat is not considered an unlawful activity when directed at a secondary employer. In 2011 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Sheet Metal Workers Local 15, 356 NLRB No. 162 (2011) ruled that the inflatable rat did not constitute a signal picket but instead constituted
symbolic speech Symbolic speech is a legal term in United States law used to describe actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it. Symbolic speech is recognized as being protected under the First Amendm ...
, which is not subject to
secondary boycott Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
rules. This holding allows the union not only to place the inflatable rats at neutral entrances but also to place them at locations where the picketed company is absent. In 2017, NLRB general counsel Peter B. Robb filed court motions seeking to change the previous policy, arguing that the presence of the inflatable rat was "confrontational, threatening, and coercive." Robb's complaint was set aside by a 3–1 vote of the NLRB on July 21, 2021. The inflatable rat appeared in the UK for the first time in 2012 and again at the 2013 Grangemouth Oil Refinery dispute.


Appearance

While the inflatable rat sometimes varies in appearance and size, it generally features large teeth and grotesque features, particularly a scabby belly. , the rats ranged from tall, but is the most popular height due to local laws limiting the height of inflatable objects on display. In 2018, a local with the Laborers' International Union of North America in
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attempted to circumvent the town's strict sign ordinance, which had an exemption for holiday decorations, by making Scabby wear a Santa hat.


Popular culture

Scabby had a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in an episode of ''
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'' in 2002, acquired through the unionized crew's theatrical Teamsters Union. In November 2024, an
art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...
called ''Scabby: A Rat About Town'' by artist Marlene Hausegger at Open Source Gallery in
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featured the inflatable rat and highlighted recent labor struggles.


Similar actions

In 2024, Teamsters in
Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
brought a giant inflatable
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...
with a bag of money,
cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
and
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
badge to their pickets outside the Amazon Fulfillment Center. In 2025, New York State
Public Employees Federation The Public Employees Federation (PEF) is a labor trade union, union representing more than 57,000 professional, scientific, and technical public employees in the state of New York (state), New York. The union is one of the largest local white-co ...
debuted a giant inflatable
Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...
(dubbed the Inflate-a-Bull) as part of a campaign to combat workplace bullying.


See also

*
List of inflatable manufactured goods This is a non-comprehensive list of inflatable manufactured goods, as no such list could ever completely contain all items that regularly change. An inflatable is an object that can typically be inflated with a gas, including air, hydrogen, heliu ...
*
History of union busting in the United States The history of union busting in the United States dates back to the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution produced a rapid expansion in factories and manufacturing capabilities. As workers moved from farms to factor ...
*
Anarchist symbolism Anarchists have employed certain symbols for their cause since the 19th century, including most prominently the #Circle-A, circle-A and the Anarchist symbolism#Black flag, black flag. Anarchist cultural symbols have become more prevalent in pop ...
*
Labor unions in the United States Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working cond ...
*
Anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...
*
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
*
Diversity of tactics Diversity of tactics is a phenomenon wherein a social movement makes periodic use of force for disruptive or defensive purposes, stepping beyond the limits of nonviolent resistance, but also stopping short of total militarization. It also refer ...
* Molly Crabapple


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inflatable Rat Mice and rats in popular culture
Rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...
Labor relations Protest tactics