Brewer's: Ratten

(To). To annoy for refusing to join a trade union, or for not submitting to its demands. This is done by destroying or taking away a workman's tools, or otherwise incapacitating him from doing work. “To rat” is to desert one's party; to work for less than the price fixed by a trade union; and “ratten” is to act the part of a rat. (See Rat.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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