noun
General Slang
Scab
· noun · construction
A worker who crosses a picket line, or a non-union hand on a union job.
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Definitions
1
A worker who crosses a picket line during a strike, or takes a striking worker's job. The ultimate insult in union trades — once you're branded a scab, the name follows you. Used the same way across construction, mining, longshoring, and the railroads.
“Three scabs tried to walk in through the gate this morning.”
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2
By extension: any non-union worker on what should be a union job, or a contractor running non-union crews to undercut the local scale.
“That outfit's all scab — they're forty percent under our rate.”
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3
As a verb: to do the work of a striker, or to work non-union on union turf.
“He scabbed during the '04 strike — nobody on this local will work next to him.”
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Scab In A Sentence
Three scabs tried to walk in through the gate this morning.
That outfit's all scab — they're forty percent under our rate.
He scabbed during the '04 strike — nobody on this local will work next to him.
Origin & Usage
British slang from the 1700s, where 'scab' meant a contemptible person (literally, a scabby one). Picked up by American labour unions in the 1800s for strikebreakers.
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