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Light Rain Roofers Local 154 brings ‘Scabby the Rat’ to Oceanside
The rather ironically named Oceanside Union Free School District hired Brooklyn roofing contractor Proton Construction on the recommendation of the district architect, John Grillo, who is overseeing the roofing project at the high school. Roofers Local 154, however, unhappy that Proton has hired non-union workers, inflated a “Scabby the Rat” at the work site.
The district’s assistant superintendent for business, Christopher Van Cott, explained that according to general municipal law, the district is required to award the project to the lowest responsible bidder, and to hire contractors that pay prevailing wages — which are not necessarily the same as union wages. He added that the district is following all laws and guidelines in its hiring practices.
“The contractor has to pay the prevailing wage, and can prove it,” Van Cott explained. “The contractor has to submit to the architect a certified, notarized copy of the payroll. Once the architect approves it, he sends it to the district for payment.” Bids are prepared so that any contractor, union or non-union, can bid on plans and specifications. “The district bid the project,” Van Cott said, “and the job went to the lowest responsible bidder.”
Unions have been using the rat to call public attention to employers or contractors employing non-union labor since 1991, when an Illinois balloon maker created a giant inflatable rat for two Chicago bricklayers union organizers.
According to the National Law Review, employers have filed lawsuits calling the use of the rat unlawful picketing. Although some courts have agreed, in 2011 the National Labor Relations Board held that it is not an unlawful activity when directed at a secondary employer, and that it constitutes symbolic speech.
For the record, the Oceanside district’s name has nothing to do with employee unions. Rather, it dates back to the 19th century, when school districts were called common districts. They were authorized to operate kindergarten through eighth grade, and responsible for a high school as well, but they lacked the legal authority to operate it. Under legislation passed in 1853, common school districts were allowed to join forces to operate high schools. They were a “union” of districts, “free” from the restrictions that otherwise barred them from doing so.
