Inflatable rat

History

The first known inflatable rat was used by the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 in Plainfield, Illinois 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 strikebreakers 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.

contest in the Local 150 newsletter, January 1990]]

The inflatable rats all originated from one American manufacturer, a company called Big Sky, who produced hot air balloons 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, 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.[[File:Inflatable Rat - Hackettstown, NJ - 2014.jpg|thumb|Inflatable rat in [[Hackettstown, New Jersey]]]]

Employers have filed lawsuits charging that the use of the giant inflatable rats constituted unlawful picketing, and some courts have agreed. In May 2011, the National Labor Relations Board (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, which is not subject to secondary boycott 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.[[File:Giant-inflatable-rat_crop.jpg|thumb|Inflatable rat in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]]]

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 6 to tall, but 12 ft is the most popular height due to local laws limiting the height of inflatable objects on display.

Popular culture

Scabby had a cameo appearance in an episode of The Sopranos in 2002, acquired through the unionized crew's theatrical Teamsters Union.

In November 2024, an art exhibition called Scabby: A Rat About Town by artist Marlene Hausegger at Open Source Gallery in Brooklyn featured the inflatable rat and highlighted recent labor struggles.

Similar actions

Since August 2017, Trumpy the Rat, an inflatable caricature of Donald Trump as a rat has been used to protest.

In October 2018, Nelson Saiers installed a 9-foot inflatable rat covered with bitcoin references and code in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an homage to bitcoin. In September 2024, a smaller version of the rat was placed at Sans Souci Cottage on Jekyll Island, the location of a 1910 meeting that led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.

In 2024, Teamsters in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Philadelphia brought a giant inflatable pig with a bag of money, cigar and CEO badge to their pickets outside the Amazon Fulfillment Center.

In 2025, New York State Public Employees Federation debuted a giant inflatable Bull (dubbed the Inflate-a-Bull) as part of a campaign to combat workplace bullying.

References

References

1. (November 1989). "Local 150 Engineer".
2. "Name the Local #150 Rat Contest".
3. (2023-03-09). "Scabby the Rat is an American labor icon. Why are his manufacturers disowning him?". [[The Guardian]].
4. Green, Max. (April 19, 2017). "How a Rat Balloon from Suburban Chicago Became a Union Mascot". [[WBEZ]].
5. Channick, Robert. (August 7, 2019). "Born in Chicago, Scabby the Giant Inflatable Protest Rat May Be Banned from Picket Lines by New Labor Board Rulings". [[Chicago Tribune]].
6. Brown, Debbie-Marie. (October 18, 2023). "For Decades, Scabby the Rat Has Stood for Workers' Rights". Chicago Reader.
7. (May 28, 2011). "The Obama Board and the Giant Rat: NLRB Holds That Union Use of Inflatable Monster Rat Does Not Constitute Unlawful Activity Directed At A Secondary Employer". [[The National Law Review]].
8. "After remand by US appeals court, NLRB rules that display of inflatable rat balloon at secondary employer is permitted under labor laws {{!}} NLRB {{!}} Public Website".
9. Lees, Judd H.. (June 11, 2011). "NLRB Rules Inflatable Rats May No Longer Constitute Signal Pickets". [[The National Law Review]].
10. Lasswell, Mark. (September 6, 2019). "Opinions: Justice for Scabby the Rat". [[The Washington Post]].
11. Gold, Michael. (July 31, 2019). "Scabby, the Giant Inflatable Union Protest Rat, Faces Extermination". [[The New York Times]].
12. Iafolla, Robert. (July 21, 2021). "Scabby the Rat Can Join Union Protesters, Divided NLRB Says".
13. Channick, Robert. (July 21, 2021). "Scabby, the Chicago-Born Giant Inflatable Protest Rat, Spared by National Labor Relations Board". [[Chicago Tribune]].
14. Taylor, Matthew. (February 16, 2012). "Electricians and construction workers block Park Lane in protest over pay". [[Guardian News]].
15. Lezard, Tim. (November 18, 2013). "Unions smell a rat over government's Grangemouth enquiry". Union-News UK.
16. Bauer, Kelly. (January 22, 2019). "Scabby the Rat, a Chicago Icon, Could Get Outlawed by Trump Appointee: Report". Block Club Chicago.
17. Jaffe, Sarah. (March 7, 2013). "The History of Scabby the Rat". [[Vice (magazine).
18. Salter, Chuck. (December 1, 2003). "The Inflatable Union Rat".
19. Pontone, Maya. (2024-11-14). "Scabby the Rat, Icon of Labor Strikes, Gets His Own NYC Show".
20. Voon, Claire. (August 9, 2017). "Trumpy the Rat Will Debut Next Week, When the President Returns to NYC [UPDATED]". [[Hyperallergic]].
21. "Why Someone Put a Giant, Inflatable Bitcoin Rat on Wall Street, Facing the Federal Reserve Bank".
22. "'I Didn't Sleep Well Last Night:' Analysts Predict Bitcoin Has Further to Fall".
23. "Why a Giant Inflatable Bitcoin Rat Now Stands at the Birthplace of the Fed".
24. (2024-12-19). "Teamsters in Rhode Island and Massachusetts picket during national Amazon strike". [[Associated Press]].
25. (2019-10-10). "Union protests goPuff with controversial inflatable pig". [[KYW News Radio]].
26. (2025-04-04). "Move over Scabby the Rat, the PEF Inflate-a-Bull is coming to a toxic workplace near you!". [[Public Employees Federation.