Scabby’s roots run so deep in Chicago that two local unions claim ownership of its origin story.
The 2018 complaint was filed by Elkhart RV parts manufacturer Lippert Components against the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, which is based in Countryside, Illinois.
The complaint alleged the union posted a 12-foot inflatable rat and two banners near the public entrance of a 2018 RV trade show in Elkhart to deter attendees. In July 2019, an administrative judge ruled the union did not violate the National Labor Relations Act, but Robb, then the board’s general counsel, challenged that decision.
In October, the agency issued an order inviting public comment in the case. The board received 30 briefs, which it took into consideration in its decision to dismiss the complaint.
From its commercial inception, the official Scabby has been made by Big Sky Balloons. Rats range in size from 6 feet to 25 feet, and in price from about $2,600 to $9,300 each.
Big Sky’s Scabby was commissioned in 1990 by the District Council 1 of the International Union of Bricklayers in Elmhurst.
But Operating Engineers Local 150 claims it came up with the name Scabby in a 1989 contest for an early version of the protest rat it created for picket lines. Ed Maher, spokesman for Local 150, said the case against Scabby was a “witch hunt” by the NLRB’s previous general counsel, and Wednesday’s ruling a “clear-cut” First Amendment victory for unions that employ the rat balloon to make their case against alleged unfair hiring practices.
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Originally Appeared Here