Rats Off to Ya!

Via Fark, the New Jersey Supreme Court is looking at the case of union members who displayed a big black plastic rat at a protest and, as it happened, broke the law.

The super-sized rat — on its hind legs and bearing fangs — had been blown up and situated at a 2005 labor event until police ticketed the senior union official onsite for violating a local sign law.

The event, at Gold's Gym in Lawrence, was staged by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to protest low wages being paid to electricians by an out-of-area contractor. The rat is a symbol used by organized labor to signal a labor dispute or the use of nonunion workers.

The labor official, Wayne DeAngelo, was fined $100 plus $33 court costs for violating a Lawrence Township ordinance preventing the display of the large, rat-shaped balloon.

The law bans banners, streamers and inflatable signs, except those announcing grand openings.

This isn't such a weird story: Those inflatable rats are everywhere. Union protestors prop one up in downtown D.C. every couple of weeks, shaming some shop or another. Lawrence's law is a pretty minor quality-of-life measure (look at that tiny fine), but that doesn't mean it's constitutional.

Headline explained here (kind of).

Comments

Matthew | September 14, 2007, 1:06pm | #

Since when is $100 bucks tiny?

Lamar | September 14, 2007, 1:09pm | #

"Since when is $100 bucks tiny?"

When it's the IBEW paying the bills.

de stijl | September 14, 2007, 1:15pm | #

Are wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men exempt?

They're not really inflatable in that they're meant to leak in order to cause the wacky arm waving motion. They're not banners or streamers. And they're totally adorable.

jbd | September 14, 2007, 1:15pm | #

I'm not saying I like the ban, but I wonder if the cops were worried that the rat symbol could be an incitement to violence against non-union workers. At least when I lived in Philly a few years ago, the IBEW was notorious for violence. The head of the local aspires to be mayor of Philly (shudder) and basically already runs the town already.

tk | September 14, 2007, 1:16pm | #

Holy Crap! I just saw two giant freaking inflatable rats the other day at a union protest - one was 15ft tall. Craziest thing I've seen in a long time (and I live in Philly, so that says something).
Who would have thought there'd be a business for renting out giant inflatable rats?

tk | September 14, 2007, 1:17pm | #

jbd -

Ahh.. you'd be refering to Dougherty.
Scary dude.

Fluffy | September 14, 2007, 1:17pm | #

Well, lots of people find all sorts of ways to claim that "commercial speech" shouldn't be protected by the 1st Amendment when it's a business doing the speaking. So why should this be any different?

If "Buy Bob's Rugs for $100" isn't protected speech, then "Pay Me More Money To Be An Electrician" shouldn't be protected speech, either. It's an economic message the same way advertisting is.

JW | September 14, 2007, 1:23pm | #

What happens if you use an inflatable gimp?

Mike Laursen | September 14, 2007, 1:24pm | #

Woohoo! A chance for libertarians to say something in defense of unions.

Giant plastic rats are clearly a form of free speech, and this libertarian is outraged!

jbd | September 14, 2007, 1:26pm | #

tk: Yes, indeed, I'm talking about Johnny Dock. The Philly Inquirer runs articles about him every now and then, which you can tell have been carefully vetted by newspaper lawyers so that the word "mafia" is implied but never actually stated. (A libel suit is probably the least of the risks they face.)

I was once shanghai'ed into going to a fundraiser for his brother, who was running for judge. After a two minute conversation, I seriously wondered how the guy could have ever passed a literacy test, let alone a bar exam. But with Johnny's backing, he now graces the Philadelphia bench.

Gotta love Philly politics. It's just so over-the-top, I miss it.

P Brooks | September 14, 2007, 1:29pm | #

I was a scab when I was in college. Admit it- you're shocked.

If the IBEW can put up a rat, can the business owner put up a pirate?

J sub D | September 14, 2007, 1:32pm | #

Woohoo! A chance for libertarians to say something in defense of unions.

Giant plastic rats are clearly a form of free speech, and this libertarian is outraged!

I won't say outraged, but these stupid sign ordinances piss me off. In Livonia, MI it took months and, Odin only knows how many, dollars, to resolve whether a Big Boy statue, violated a sign ordinance. Jeez.

ed | September 14, 2007, 1:32pm | #

Giant plastic rats are clearly a form of free speech

In the libertarian world, what isn't free speech? In other words, is all behavior a form of protected speech? It seems to be.

Lamar | September 14, 2007, 1:34pm | #

Constipation isn't free speech.

Sam McManus | September 14, 2007, 1:35pm | #

Tim and Eric are awesome.

ed | September 14, 2007, 1:38pm | #

Constipation isn't free speech.

No, but the resolution of said condition is.
Especially when you do it on the steps of a capitol building.

Franklin Harris | September 14, 2007, 1:40pm | #

Woohoo! A chance for libertarians to say something in defense of unions.

Technically, we're not defending unions. We're defending giant, inflatable rats.

TrickyVic | September 14, 2007, 1:40pm | #

Declaring constipation is.

Franklin Harris | September 14, 2007, 1:41pm | #

Tim and Eric are awesome.

Just because it says that in the title doesn't make it true.

J sub D | September 14, 2007, 1:41pm | #

Franklin Harris, Thanks. Made my day.

NoStar | September 14, 2007, 1:52pm | #

I'm waiting for a business owner to put up a big inflatable rat-trap.

SxCx | September 14, 2007, 1:52pm | #

Nothing that a good game of sand sphere can't fix.

Dan T. | September 14, 2007, 1:54pm | #

Woohoo! A chance for libertarians to say something in defense of unions.

Giant plastic rats are clearly a form of free speech, and this libertarian is outraged!

Unions vs Government - Reason will side with unions

Unions vs Corporations - Reason will side with corporations

Corporations vs Government - Reason will side with corporations

Rex Rhino | September 14, 2007, 2:10pm | #

Unions vs Corporations - Reason will side with corporations

Unions *ARE* corporations, so your generalization is a little bit off.

Mike Laursen | September 14, 2007, 2:19pm | #

You're right! If Reason would just change it so Government crushes Corporations, lil' Reason readers could play "Government, Unions, Corporations" in schoolyards across the country.

Ray | September 14, 2007, 2:25pm | #

I bet the non-union workers were getting about $20 an hour too. Unions are dying fast because they demand the lifeblood of business. I say let them go or let them get with the program. People work for less than what they demand, without the headache of slacking ass workers that are protected form being terminated among other things.

About the violence, I have seen some really terrible things happen at strikes over the years. Violence is not an option. Strike violence should automatically turn into a decertification emposed by the NLRB.

MattXIV | September 14, 2007, 2:31pm | #

I think the ban will pass consitutiontal muster (with the possible exception of the "Grand Opening" exemption) since it's pretty content-neutral, but I still think it's an inappropriate law. You should be able to put up whatever giant inflatable crap you want as long as it isn't damaging anything or obstructing anybody.

KingHarvest | September 14, 2007, 2:34pm | #

If Reason would just change it so Government crushes Corporations, lil' Reason readers could play "Government, Unions, Corporations" in schoolyards across the country.

Ah, Mike, your logic's off. We would need to have Government trump Unions for a balanced game. Otherwise you could throw Unions all the time and either 1) force Government or Corporations into compliance or 2) result in an endless stalemate.

Strangely, Detroit comes to mind...

Mike Laursen | September 14, 2007, 3:04pm | #

Dan T.'s rules were a little confusing because he stated the trumping relationship backwards in one case. If you normalize, he had:

Corporations trump Government
Corporations trump Unions
Unions trump Government

My fix is:

Government trumps Corporations (this rule changed)
Corporations trump Unions
Unions trump Government

Of course, it wouldn't really be a proper Reason Rochambeau unless it also included "Damned Dirty Hippies" as a possible throw.

JBinMO | September 14, 2007, 4:16pm | #

What about an inflatable woman? Not that I've got one...

tk | September 14, 2007, 4:30pm | #

JBinMo -

A Giant inflatable woman? Cool...

Syd | September 14, 2007, 6:21pm | #

I say the contractor should hire a giant inflatable cat.

Asharak | September 14, 2007, 7:23pm | #

They have the right to display giant inflatable rats all they want as far as I'm concerned, but I've never understood the hostility against "scabs" that unions have. It's quite counterproductive.
Nasty tactics against non-union workers is something that's also gone hand in hand with the racism in American organized labor, and leftists tend to get evasive or simply dismiss it as capitalist propaganda when you bring it up.

Akira MacKenzie | September 14, 2007, 7:32pm | #

"Rats Off To Ya...."

Tom Goes the The Mayor?

Hugh Akston | September 14, 2007, 8:49pm | #

Unions *ARE* corporations

Sorry, Rex Rhino, 'fraid not. Corporations are profit-seeking exploiters of the ignorant. Unions, as you know, are above such petty concerns; organized solely for the benefit of the public good and the defense of the lil' guy.

M | September 14, 2007, 9:10pm | #

Grand Opening: Rat 4 Sale. Make an Offer!

Obviously unions suppress entrepreneurial talent.

J sub D | September 15, 2007, 11:20am | #

You should be able to put up whatever giant inflatable crap you want as long as it isn't damaging anything or obstructing anybody.

I used to live in the neighborhood of a Ford dealer who consistently displayed a giant inflated something, usually seasonally related, on the roof of his showroom. Silly me, I thought it was cool.

J sub D | September 15, 2007, 11:23am | #

...the racism in American organized labor, ...

Shhh! That's a secret of the left. Kind of like the retarded step-brother in the attic.