[co-author: Myles Moran*]
On July 21, 2021, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or the “Board”) issued a 3-1 decision affirming its precedent that displaying banners and a large inflatable rat (“Scabby the Rat”) near neutral employers does not violate the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “the Act”). This decision may come as a disappointment to many employers as the NLRB under the Trump administration had been making efforts to end what many felt was unlawful secondary picketing under the Act.
Scabby’s Prior History at the Board
At issue in this case is Section 8(b)(4)(ii)(B) of the Act, which makes it “‘an unfair labor practice for a labor organization … to threaten, coerce, or restrain’ a person not party to a labor dispute ‘where … an object thereof is … forcing or requiring [him] to … cease doing business with any other person.’” For decades, unions have displayed “Scabby the Rat,” an oversized inflatable rat with red eyes, in close proximity to businesses to protest alleged unfair labor practices by employers and to persuade workers not to work for or patronize an employer whose labor practices are being challenged. Employers have long detested Scabby’s presence near their property. During the Obama administration, the NLRB issued a pair of decisions relating to secondary picketing, finding that: