WARSAW — After a brief confiscation, “Cheesy” the stuffed rat is home with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and is back outside McAllister Equipment. This time, the group has a sign reading, “Federal government prosecuting MacAllister Machinery Inc. for unfair labor practices.”

According to Ed Maher of the IUOE Local 150, the union has decided to pursue federal charges with the NLRB against MacAllister pertaining to what they say are “unfair labor practices.”

“We just want to communicate to the public that MacAllister has mistreated their employees,” Maher said. “It is certainly our belief that they have violated federal labor laws and now that the federal government has found merit to these claims, they will be prosecuting MacAllister.”

The charges are not against the local branch, per se, though

“The local branches are all subsidiaries of the company,” Maher said. “When the workers were going through an election, the company committed the unfair labor practice. We’re protesting that unfair labor practice can be done at any of their facilities and ambulatory protests can be done at any site where they’re performing work.”

Ink Free News contacted MacAllister Equipment and was referred to a representative from the corporate office. A message left with the representative has not yet been returned.