David McGlynn
David McGlynn
Robert Mecea
Robert Mecea
David McGlynn
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This union rat isn’t rolling over.
Members of Local 1 of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers union who are protesting at a Midtown construction site erected an even larger inflatable rat, topping the inflatable cat that the building’s owner put up to show up the union’s initial blow-up rodent.
The new rat – put up at 8 a.m. Monday across from Grand Central Terminal in protest against contractor MDB Development Corp. – stands at least a foot taller than the cat set up last week by One Grand Central Place’s corporate owner, Empire State Realty Trust.
“He got bigger!” BAC union member Michael Barbera, 54, joked of the 20-foot rat.
“We’re not leaving. We’re not intimidated by an inflatable balloon,” Barbera told The Post.
When the cat was first put up, it overshadowed the union’s rat, prompting the union to get an even bigger rat in its labor fight that erupted when the union got shut out of a façade-renovation job at the site.
Union members took the rat down about 2 p.m. Friday after the cat went up alongside it, but Barbera insisted that they weren’t chased away.
In fact, Barbera said the union is planning to get a massive, permit-required Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade-style rat balloon to put in the mounted inflatable rat’s place.
“We’re gonna get a bigger rat. We’re gonna apply for a permit and get one of those Macy’s balloons,” Barbera said.
The Local 1 member added, “We’re not just here for BAC. We’re here for all New Yorkers who want to work safely and have a fair wage.”
MDB and Empire State Realty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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