Strikes and unions vocab

Collective Bargaining

People organize into a group and select leaders who meet with management to review working conditions, wages, benefits, etc. (This is called a Union)

Strike

Workers walk off job until their demands are met

Boycott

Refusal to buy certain goods or shop in certain stores

Arbitration

Labor and management agree in advance to term set by a third party (this means whatever is decided is binding- it has to be followed)

Mediation

A third party tries to negotiate between labor and management and suggest terms they might agree on (nonbinding)

Lockdown/ Lock-out

Employee closes factory and doesn’t allow workers to enter because of the potential for violence by strikers

Scabs

Strike-breakers: workers who cross the picket line to take the striking workers jobs

Pinkertons

A private security agency whose purpose was to stop strikers from damaging company property

Blacklisted

your name is put on a list and shared with other employers—no one will hire you

“Yellow-Dog” Contract

Potential employees had to sign an agreement before they were hired stating that they promise not to join the union if they joined, they were fired. These contracts are illegal today.

Closed shop

They were legal until 1947. If you were hired by a company that had a labor union, you were required to become a member.

Open shop

Today, if you are hired by a company that has a union you may choose to join, but not required

Worker’s Compensation

If you were injured on the job, you can receive payment for time off work and your medical bills were covered