And the UAW, predictably, isnt about to defend any dissenters. We were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and waiting to give you our daily union greeting. On the other hand, non-joiners, who for obvious reasons dont consent to having their names revealed, have a right not to be harassed or assaulted. See also: Synonyms for scab union ; Scab is defined as for a crusty surface to form over a wound. A scab is a strikebreaker, an individual hired by a company to do work performed by unionized workers that are on strike, or a union member who rebels from his union and goes to work while there is a strike, crossing his own picket line. It gives you an indication of whos paying and who isnt. Yet anyone with political smarts can see the ulterior motive is to ostracize and intimidate non-members. December 5, 2006.http://action.clc-ctc.ca/node/37, Armstrong, Mick. How Unions Use "Scab" Lists to Intimidate Workers. Its power seems to have diminished a bit since the. . Labor unions attempted to help with this by organizing workers, who paid dues that could be used to support them during a strike. On June 22, 1922, in the town of Herrin, Ill., striking coal miners surrounded a mine full of nonunion scabs. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022. The term itself comes verb 3 0 To work or act as a scab. In the UAWs Caterpillar campaign of two decades ago, dissenting workers and family members suffered a good deal more than the proverbial hurt feelings. Public opinion turned against the union when two striking miners dropped a 45-pound (20.4-kilogram) cement block onto the car of a scab, killing the driver [source: BBC]. One nonunion employee, who requested anonymity for fear of union retribution, said harassment began soon after the release of the report. If you were running that factory in Michigan, you would do everything in your power to limit your exposure to labor unions [source: Lemay]. So if you want to gripe and complain and strike, don't be mad when people who need a job and are willing to work without crying about everything take your spot. . . . However, "scab" was an old-fashioned English insult. @anon334692: Unions were a great thing at a time when the populace needed a way to protect themselves from greedy corporate owners who mistreated them. In the end, Caterpillar in March 1998 renewed its collective bargaining agreement with the UAW, after a period of more than six years in which no contract was in force. According to an independent study, a significant number of tires produced by replacement workers at the Firestone plan in Decatur, Ill. in 1994 and 1995 were defective and had potentially deadly tread separations. When it works, collective bargaining is good for both the worker and the employer. Not only did the workers go on strike, but they physically occupied the steel plant, shielding it from scab workers. Over the past two centuries, scabs have played pivotal roles in some of the world's most famous and most violent labor strikes. The courts have set a high bar for successful defamation suits against unions with regard to scab lists. The term "scab" was first used in the 13th century to mean a nasty, itchy skin disease or the crust that forms on a wound. Workers Have a Fundamental Right to Accept Any Employment Terms They Wish. How do you describe a scab? "Aust Radical History: The Great Strikes." The new UAW secretary-treasurer, Gary Casteel, the unions point man during its unsuccessful 2013-14 organizing drive at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, also backs the practice. Instead, the scabs were marched through Herrin and into the woods, where 20 of them were murdered and others seriously injured [source: Encyclopedia Britannica]. In the decades leading up to the air traffic controllers' strike, there was an average of 300 major labor strikes a year in the U.S. By 2006, the average had dropped to less than 30 a year [source: Schlach]. Two hundred years later, it appeared with the common definition we know today, a hard crust that forms over a wound. And without the option to hire replacement workers, you'll have to bow to the union's demands, even if you feel they're excessive. It was so vile and politically and emotionally charged that it caused shame and anger. This is also known as crossing the picket line and can result in their being shunned or assaulted. Well, 99 percent of the time, the answer is no. In England, scabs are also called "blacklegs." It is a test to which workingmen should not be subjected. Equally to the point, the compilation and posting of scab lists made the terror possible. Now the company is in an even tougher economic situation. The Free Dictionary. If the Post cereal company went on strike, people would not die if they could not find their favorite cereal on the shelf. In the 1700s, this term was used for someone who refused to join a labor union, and by 1806, the word had reached its modern usage. A single scab could greatly weaken the cause of the union. Whereas the complaints of one, two or 10 workers could be easily ignored by management, the united voice of thousands of workers demanded attention. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1426, the union representing workers at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. plant in Sioux City, Iowa (and which struck in 2007), addressed an open letter to scabs within the local. National Post. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles. As we've seen, quite a bit of controversy and risk of physical danger surrounds labor scabs. In August 2011, two days into a two-week walkout at Verizon by 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a group of strikers sent a message to scabs via Facebook. In England, scabs are also called "blacklegs.". to flourish. Once this break is plugged, wound healing causes the clot to eventually becomes a hard protective crust on the surface known as a scab. They don't make insults quite like that anymore. Flag. They would end up buying another brand. Can you see how our tactics are changing? Oakland Tribune. OP's premise is incorrect. . By 1806, the word "scab" arrived at its current meaning a strikebreaker who willingly crosses the picket line [source: Lexicon of Labor, Online Etymology Dictionary]. Business Term: Scab: Category: Business Terms / Economics: Termbase Ranking: 2/10: French: Gale: German: Schorf: Spanish: Schorf: Portuguese: Costra: Example - How to use. How are your finances? A union anti-scab campaign does more than simply express disapproval; it enables full-scale character assassination. Also, What does the word picket means? More temperate labor activists and unions use the term strike breaker instead, but the slang term is often used in speeches and literature designed to fire up the strikers. "1981 Strike Leaves Legacy for American Workers." Scab used to be thrown into conversation like a bomb. Online Etymology Dictionary. The imposition of violence, and fear of it, becomes a way of doing business. That noose is called union brotherhood. Some of the largest and longest strikes in history were eventually undermined by scab labor. The term "scab" is a highly derogatory and "fighting word"most frequently used to refer to people who continue to work when trade unionists go on strike action. When scabs fill jobs, the striking worker has two options -- either return to work under the same old conditions or look for a new job. The rest of the season, including the World Series, was canceled. Members of the Air Line Pilots Association periodically update a U.S. In response to more organized labor, companies started to recruit people who were willing to break the strike. The term "scab" is a highly derogatory and "fighting word" most frequently used to refer to people who continue to work when trade unionists go on strike action. Another anonymous employee, a longtime union member, already disenchanted with union nepotism and support for subpar workers, stated that the scab list was the reason for his desire to drop out of the United Auto Workers. They say that scabs are necessary bargaining chips at the negotiation table to combat unfair union demands. Subscribe to our newsletter and learn something new every day. He is always scabbing cigarettes. Unions have long sought to demonize replacement workers, union members who cross picket lines, and others whom the unions label scabs. Sometimes, this takes the form of implied or explicit threats or other efforts to create fear and to intimidate. SCAB - What does SCAB stand for? Answer (1 of 7): Why are non-union workers called scabs? | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples 2 : a union member who refuses to strike or returns to work before a strike has ended. Meaning of the word scab union. A Salt is a union member working for a nonunion shop with the intent to educate wiremen on the benefits of membership, salting is done with the approval of the hall Its funny you guys aren't even ORGANIZED as the what the term rat means. In some cases, people may feel forced to cross a picket line; university students, for example, may be told that they must attend class whether or not university staff are striking. The turning point came with the federal air traffic controllers' strike [source: Kilborn]. Strikers and Scabs. In 18th Century England, laborers used it to denounce their peers who were unwilling to join a strike. Union activists would argue, however, that "scabs" prolong the crisis, undermine the sacrifices of strike action, and unfairly benefit from the sacrifices of those workers who "held the line . Yet the primary goal of sound labor policy is to facilitate worker freedom, whether with or without unionism. The Termbase team is compiling practical examples in using Scab. . Picket's definition ( Entry 1 of 2) 1: a stake, post, or pale with a pointy or sharpened end. scabies of domestic animals; a crust of hardened blood and serum over a wound; a contemptible person 'All Intensive Purposes' or 'All Intents and Purposes'. On June 15, 1993, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 239-190 to amend the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to prohibit employers from hiring permanent replacement workers in . The word scab suggests something unsightly and diseased. The term "scab" is a highly derogatory and "fighting word" most frequently used to refer to people who continue to work when trade unionists go on strike action. noun 0 0 Scabies or mange in domestic animals or livestock, especially sheep. People employed at a non-union workplace which is not currently undergoing labor-organizational efforts are not g. Despite the arguments against scab labor, some experts claim that scabs can also serve a positive purpose. 4 : one who works for less than union wages or on nonunion terms. . Do you have a pension? Sort of like what happened during Katrina. Scab lists enable the creation of such duress. Trade unionists also use the epithet "scab" to refer to workers who are willing to accept terms that union workers have rejected and interfere with the strike action. scab noun Several different diseases of potatoes producing pits and other damage on their surface, caused by Streptomyces -bacteria. Would it not make sense, therefore, to treat the dissemination of such lists as punishable insofar as they facilitate terroristic threats or behavior. Wounds that take a long time to heal need special care. Amazon Doesn't Want You to Know About This Plugin. What does the word scab mean in social studies? On the night of July 5, 1892, barges carrying hundreds of armed Pinkerton detectives floated up the river toward the Homestead plant. The worker gets a better salary, reasonable schedules and health benefits, and the employer is relieved of the burden of negotiating individually with each and every worker. Copyright 2022 California Policy Center. Recently, a scab truck driver in Spain was badly burned when strikers set his vehicle on fire [source: Mail Online]. Employers, especially in local labor markets with high unemployment rates, may have large pools of such workers at their disposal, especially for unskilled jobs. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, scab was first recorded in English around 1250, and referred to diseases of the skin. b: a detachment stationed in camp for such a mission. The ugly truth is that once UAW bosses get into power, they will not tolerate any worker who refused to voluntarily join and pay dues. Frustrated with dangerous labor conditions, low pay and zero job security, they came together to form the first labor unions. The term "scab" gained wide spread recognition when famous author Jack London used it in 1913 in his enduring poem: "Ode to a Scab." Basically a non union worker who is working in a union shop. So long as they know that making (or carrying out) threats of physical assault and property damage have a good chance of not being punished, they have an incentive to generate these lists. Glenn Taubmann, a staff attorney with the Springfield, Va.-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, puts it this way: It comes as no surprise that unions in Right to Work states engage in all sorts of harassment and pressure tactics against independent-minded workers. June 13, 2008http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1025783/Scab-driver-burned-lorry-European-protests-high-fuel-prices-turn-violent.html, Lemay, Guy; Kozhaya, Norma. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scab.' exciting challenge of being a PublicPeople researcher and writer. "Scab Ball." the union of two sets. "Replacement Players in the Major Leagues"http://www.theloveofsports.com/index.php/site/comments/scab_ball/, Schlach, Kathleen. A "scab" a derogatory term used to describe a strike breaker. Contents 1 History 2 Appearance They slither along through the cracks and crevices. Another argument for replacement workers is what's called the "market test theory" which is based on the principles of supply and demand [source: Ferrara]. A crust discharged from and covering a healing wound. See, youve got only yourself to rely on, we have each other and our families. We believe every View complete answer on variety.com UAW Local 31, which represents nearly 3,000 wage and salary workers at the Fairfax GM assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., has published the names of non-joining workers on its website under the category, Important Information. One nonunion worker at the plant, insisting upon anonymity, said the motive is coercion: They cant have dissenters among their ranks because it doesnt look good to anyone thinking about joining.. These people might be existing employees or outside contractors. (Regardless of your "productivity equation."). answer the question what does scab mean, which will help you get the most accurate answer. But don't gripe if you're getting them for free. One of the earliest known recordings is from 1777: the Conflict would not been [sic] so sharp had not there been so many dirty Scabs; no Doubt but timely Notice will be taken of them." But he is a supporter of using scab lists to win representation. The bar is at once high enough to guard against abusive and/or frivolous lawsuits, yet low enough to discourage behavior palpably intended to traumatize the innocent. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced searchad free! Whether or not Williams had sanctioned or taken part in the intimidation campaign is a separate issue. The term "scab" is a highly derogatory and "fighting word" most frequently used to refer to people who continue to work when trade unionists go on strike action. By crossing the picket line of strikers marching and holding signs for better working conditions, the strike breaker hurts the cause of the workers. Now the Obama administrations National Labor Relations Board is pressuring employers to give personal information to unions, while the Internet is providing new ways to publicize scab lists and make people toe the union line. However, if the union asks for an excessive or above-market wage increase, then the employer will easily find replacement workers willing to accept the lower but reasonable market price. Their view of voluntary unionism, he said, is an iron fist against anyone who dissents.. Turn your nose up to someone else, because I know I work harder, faster, and do a better job than the union counterparts. What does calling someone a scab mean? Californian should I was working in Silicon Valley, CA for a very lucrative non-union company that pays their Techs/Installers $16 per hour.
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