Scabby the Rat first came on to the scene of American union protests in 1989, protesting in Plainfield, Illinois. At the time, the rat was nameless, prompting a “Name the Rat” contest. Two months later, the name “Scabby” was born, and now, 35 years later, Scabby the Rat has made an appearance in Glassboro, at the site of a highly anticipated Raising Cane’s site, scheduled for opening in April.

The people behind the rat at the 695 North Delsea Drive location are the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 19. The union’s seal can be found on a white sign posted at the belly of the big Scabby inflatable, which reads “Shame on Raising Cane’s” in big red letters visible to cars driving by in Glassboro. Below those large red letters, the sign reads “For lowering the area wages and standards of the American worker!”. The union’s coverage area includes 10 counties in New Jersey, all of Delaware, and a good chunk of the area in Pennsylvania.

The union’s issue, specifically with the Raising Cane’s construction, is that not all union-recognized workers are being used in the project. 

“They’re upset because we’re not using all union guys,” said Rob Grove, the superintendent of the job site, affiliated with The Dagit Group. “I have a union plumber and site guys, concrete guys, but what we call tin knockers, the guys that put the ductwork and all, they’re not union guys.”

The Dagit Group has completed thousands of projects all over the Mid-Atlantic region, and Raising Cane’s is one of many on the impressive client list, which includes McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, and many more.

“We’ve been with Raising Cane’s, building for them, for probably four or five years now,” said Grove. “They give us a certain amount of them every year.”

Grove also calls Scabby the Rat a “scare tactic”, and definitely an attempt to try and get more union workers on the job site.

“They want us to stop using the guys that we use,” said Grove. “It’s kind of like a scare tactic to get rid of all the guys we have.”

Grove cites the expense for reasoning why that shift can’t be made.

“It costs four times as much to do it with a union contractor than to do it with the guys we’ve used,” Grove said. “If it was 100 dollars to do this building, it would’ve cost 1,000 dollars if I did it with the union.”

In his statements, Grove added a prediction for what the future looks like with union construction, and what to look forward to. And it’s not much.

“They’re ultimate goal is to do all of Raising Cane’s work. It’s never going to happen,” said Grove.

As reported in The Whit’s first issue last week, the Glassboro location is four of seven locations coming to New Jersey, so while it’s unclear if The Dagit Group will be responsible for more of Raising Cane’s construction in New Jersey, one thing may become a common sighting in the area.

Scabby the Rat.

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