Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 91 is no stranger when it comes to using threats, coercion and intimidation on the picket line.

But despite court appearances, federal investigations and even beatings throughout the 1990s, Local 91 union officials have brought out their newest scare-tactic weapon…a 10-ft inflatable rat, paid for in full with $4,000 of union dues, much of which is taken from workers as a condition of employment.

(Photo by Charles Lewis/Buffalo News)

The rat, union officials claim, is a peaceful message to workers who choose not to toe the union line.

According to The Buffalo News, most agree that the giant rat planted outside a Holiday Inn at a Niagara Falls construction site is a not-so-subtle sign of some of this LIUNA Local’s violent past. The giant rat is inflated for about four hours every morning, and during that time, Local 91 picketers intimidate truck drivers entering the site.

In fact, one Local 91 operative, Michael Godzisz, even tried to justify the intimidation:

The picketing laborers also stop construction vehicles as they enter the site but do so for only three of five minutes at a time, he said.

And the union local’s business manager supported the bullying tactic:

“We can’t hold them up, and if we keep walking they can’t run us over,” said Rob Connolly, Local 91’s business manager. “After about five minutes, we let them go out of courtesy.” [Emphasis added]

Despite LIUNA Local 91’s claim to reform and anger management control, the use of the giant rat is just another type of terror used to intimidate those employees who refuse to walk off the job. In fact, other locals have used the rat trap up and down the east coast.

But giving truckers a “courtesy” to get through the picket line leaves you questioning: what exactly happens after the five minute window is up»