Union’s use of giant rat balloon display permitted
Monday, June 20, 2011 at 5:58PM A union that stationed a giant inflatable rat balloon on public property at the worksite of a secondary employer with a union member who held a leaflet across his chest did not commit unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act because such activities did not constitute “picketing” and were not unlawfully coercive, according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Assoc., Local 15, AFL-CIO and Galencare, Inc., d/b/a Brandon Regional Medical Center and Energy Air, Inc.
The hospital, the secondary employer, selected a non-union contractor to perform construction work on the project. The union had a primary labor dispute with the non-union contractor over alleged sub-standard wages and benefits. The union sought to persuade the hospital to cease doing business with the non-union contractor by engaging in various forms of protest to publicize the labor dispute.
First, the union stationed a giant inflatable rat balloon on a flatbed trailer on public property in front of the hospital. The rat balloon measured 16-feet tall and 12-feet wide and was located 100 feet from the hospital’s main entrance. Second, a union member stood near the hospital’s vehicle entrance for two days and held a leaflet in front of his chest. The leaflet described the non-union contractor as being a “rat employer” and asserted that the company was undermining the “wages, benefits, and other working conditions established by local labor agreements.”
The NLRB held that the rat balloon and the leaflet displays did not constitute “picketing” because there were no elements of confrontation in the union’s methods of protest. These displays were stationary and located at sufficient distances from the vehicle and building entrances such that visitors were not confronted by an actual or symbolic barrier as they entered or left the hospital. The NLRB further found that the rat balloon and the leaflet constituted “symbolic speech” and while it drew attention to the union’s labor dispute, it did not frighten or disturb hospital patients or otherwise disrupt the business of the health care institution.
The NLRB additionally held that neither the rat balloon display attendants nor the union member were unlawfully coercive in their conduct because these people did not move, shout, impede access or otherwise interfere with the hospital’s operations. Instead, their actions constituted expressive speech that was subject to constitutional protections.
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