Professor Michael Oswalt’s op-ed, Commentary: Does Scabby the Rat cause fear — or is the NLRB inflating the balloon’s power? was published in the Chicago Tribune on August 19, 2019. His article discusses the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel’s attempt to prohibit Scabby the Rat, the large balloon many unions use to publicize labor disputes. While current law allows the general counsel to argue that the rat is “coercive” in the abstract, he argues that the agency should be required to prove that the Rat causes third-parties to actually fear a consequence that labor law protects against. Otherwise, the legality of all cartoon balloons — from Oscar the Grouch to Yogi Bear — could be thrown into doubt.
