IBEW Local 98 Literally Has 3 Surveillance Drones Now

In early January, John Dougherty‘s IBEW Local 98 union held a large protest in front of the old Parker Spruce Hotel. They brought three giant inflatable rats. They brought a car shaped like a rat. And they brought scores of union workers to protest the building rehab, which is apparently being done with non-union labor.

They also had a drone with them.

In a video recently posted to YouTube and embedded above, Local 98 reveals that it now has a drone that can monitor non-union worksites. You can even see Johnny Doc nodding excitedly as the footage begins. It’s set to Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me”, because of course it is. Yo, did they get the proper clearance on that thing? I suppose it’s fair use.

By far the best part of the video is the one guy who turns his thumbs up into a power fist, with his buddy ruining his moment by putting rabbit ears behind his head.

“IBEW Local 98 in Philadelphia is flying high — literally,” the description reads. “The union is using drones to record footage from high above targeted work sites. Local 98 has three drones to check on construction sites and to film 98’s own picket lines and protests to protect the union from false claims against it. It’s plane ingenious.”

Yes, that last pun is so cringeworthy it could make even a committed Marxist say, “Workers of the world … uh, you know what, never mind.” But no matter. The drone footage in this video of the Parker Spruce picket is quite cool. I hope to see even more impressive shots of cool buildings in the future. Thanks for the commitment to documenting the city’s beauty, Local 98!

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