Giant rat shows up in protest at California dealership
A huge rat is part of a union protest at a Honda dealership near Berkeley, California, reports television station KGO. The rat is fake, of course. It's inflatable. But its presence near the dealership has sparked a debate over freedom of speech.
This is a union rat, to be sure. It refuses to work overtime and goes home at exactly 6:00 p.m. In any other town, this story would be considered bizarre, but not in Berkeley. The mayor and city council have actually come out publicly in support of the union and are encouraging city residents to boycott the dealership.
Steve Haworth, general manager of Berkeley Honda, the target of a protest by the local machinists union, says, "I don't know how many accidents there have been, but it is definitely a problem, because this is a really busy intersection. It's a pretty scary looking creature out there." Mr. Haworth also says that the 10-foot-tall rat is infringing on his right to run a safe business.
The union guys see things differently, of course. They say it's their right to protest the dealership changing their pension plan, and they have a permit to do so.
Berkeley city attorneys say the permit to place an object on the sidewalk was intended for tables to distribute free speech literature. But permit officials have broadened it to include objects.
Mr. Haworth observes, "They're (the union) able to take what probably should be a temporary use permit and turned it into a perpetual opportunity." The "temporary" permit lasts 14 days, but the city is allowing the union to continue - even though union members say they have not bothered to renew it.
Berkeley mayor, Tom Bates, notes, "Berkeley is a very pro-union town, let's face it." So much so that Mayor Tom Bates and the city council voted unanimously to encourage citizens to boycott Berkeley Honda.
And what happens if you have 100 organizations that decide they want to put inflatable displays all over the sidewalks of Berkeley? Says Mayor Bates, "We'd be a beautiful, decorative town." Berkeley city attorneys say sandwich signs on the sidewalk are illegal, because they're for commercial use. But free speech signs as big as this rat are not.
Woman says dealership gave her car to wrong person
A woman who took her car to get serviced at Nissan dealership near Miami, Florida, says her car was stolen from the dealership's service department by a man claiming to be her boyfriend, reports the CBS affiliate television station in Miami.
The woman claims she left her Nissan Maxima to get work done at the dealership service department in December. When she went to pick up her car, she was told a man claiming to be her boyfriend picked it up from them days earlier.
"They did not even call me to ask me if this man was my boyfriend," says the woman, who is married.
According to the fixed operations manager at the dealership, the man not only claimed to be her boyfriend, but also asked for her car using her full name, paid for the services in cash and signed off on the receipt to take the car. Some suspect it might be an inside job, as this man has been seen by employees dropping off another Nissan model to get serviced in the past.
Dealership officials say they are cooperating with police on the investigation. They will pick up the difference for the customer to get another car and will provide her with a free loaner while she gets the new car.
DealersEdge.com Daily Briefing
Updated for Janaury 12, 2006