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Inflatable Rats Join St. Joseph's Hospital Labor Dispute

Photo by REBECCA SEXTON LARSON

The Sheet Metal Workers Local 15 union sends a message to contractors hired by St. Joseph's Hospital.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 23, 2008

TAMPA - Three humongous inflatable rats wave in the breeze to people passing by St. Joseph's Hospital on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the manifestation of a labor dispute between contractors the hospital has hired and a local union.

This isn't the first time Sheet Metal Workers Local 15 has used the rats.

In February, the union placed an inflatable rat in front of the Brandon Regional Hospital expansion project on Oakfield Drive, protesting the hiring practices of a temporary employment agency hired by the hospital.

Hospital officials say the dispute doesn't involve them directly and that there is nothing they can do to get the plastic rodents removed.

The rats have First Amendment rights, too, officials said.

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