What does ‘scab’ mean? The viral DNC T-shirt, explained – NBC Chicago

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain wore a t-shirt during his address to the DNC Monday that is setting social media on fire, but what does it mean?

The shirt, which he wore under his jacket during his address, contained the phrase “Trump is a scab. Vote Harris.”

His rhetoric echoed that sentiment, as he called former President Donald Trump a “scab” and praised Vice President Kamala Harris as a champion of the working class.

But what does the term “scab” mean?

According to the Huffington Post, a “scab” is a worker who declines to join a union, but it’s also an individual who crosses a picket line during a strike.

Trump has faced fire from unions for decades, but his presidency amplified those criticisms. According to CNN, the Trump administration’s appointees to the Supreme Court helped strike down rules regarding public sector unions, making it easier for public employees to not pay union dues even if they work in a unionized workplace.

He was also criticized at the DNC for failing to keep open a GM plant in Ohio, despite promising to protect the facility’s jobs.

The UAW has endorsed Harris, along with several other high-profile unions.

Notably, the Teamsters Union has not, and their president Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, but has not been invited to the DNC in Chicago.