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JuliaX1984 t1_j69nd9m wrote

I know that's the mascot for the Post Gazette Union, but I don't understand:

A) Why? The name Scabby suggests the rat is a scab, so the bad guy, so do the boxing gloves mean he's the one the union is fighting? He's an effigy of the enemy like Guy Fawkes?

B) What "This rat's not for you" means or who it's addressed to.

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AirtimeAficionado t1_j69uc98 wrote

Scabby is supposed to be put up in front of the businesses/headquarters of places under a strike as a symbol of the company being anti-union, but Scabby is here, in front of City Hall— not the PG— just as a symbol of the union, so they added the “not,” because Scabby isn’t striking against the City, or at least that’s my read of the situation.

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JuliaX1984 t1_j69vfgj wrote

Thank you. Their reasoning makes no sense, but good to know it.

They need a mascot that represents them and phrases that are self-evident.

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AirtimeAficionado t1_j69ze53 wrote

Yeah, it is confusing with Scabby serving the role of being the evil corporation as well as being a character of the union, they definitely should create a new character, perhaps a sentient newspaper (think Clippy) haha

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mattmentecky t1_j6b3n38 wrote

I take it to mean “a scab worker is not on your side”. They planned to take the rat to John Block’s wedding which would be a weird place to say the rat isn’t striking against them. Plus an exclamation mark makes more sense staking a position rather than notifying people that a message isn’t directed at them.

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