labor union terms

Closed shop

Establishment where only union workers are employed (illegal now, outlawed by Taft-Hartley act)

Yellow dog contract

Agreement by which a worker promises not to join a union if hired and which he must sign before employment is granted (illegal now, outlawed by Taft-Hartley act)

Open shop

Establishment where employment is not restricted to union members

Union shop

Establishment in which nonunion workers may be employed provided they agree to join a recognized union of the plant after a specific date; okayed by Taft-Hartley act

Craft union

Organization of workers who perform skilled or semi-skilled labor; examples: electricians, carpenters

Company union

Labor organization which is created and controlled by management

Right-to-work laws

Laws passed by states legalizing the open shop and removing any requirement that workers must join a union

Featherbedding

Insistence by unions on employment of unnecessary workers

Fringe benefits

Extra advantages to workers to supplement wages; examples: health insurance, vacations with pay, bonuses, allowances for travel time, and recreational facilities

Arbitration

Referral of a labor dispute to a third party for settlement; binding decision

Collective bargaining

Organized effort of workers through representatives of their own choice for dealing with employers to determine wages, hours, and working conditions; very common

Meditation

Hearing a third party’s opinion for settling a labor dispute; non binding decision

Blacklist

List of names of union members, circulated among employers, to prevent those on the list from obtaining jobs

Injunction

Court order forbidding unions to engage in certain activities defined as punishable

Lockout

Closing of a plant by management to pressure workers to accept employers’ terms

Pinkerton

Security agency hired by owners to prevent or end a strike, with force, if necessary

Scab

Outsider who is brought into a plant to replace a striking worker, thereby helping to break the strike

Strike

Refusing to work

Sit-down strike

Work stoppage caused when strikers prevent operation of a plant by refusing to leave plant premises

Yellow dog contract

A worker promises NOT to join a union before they are hired (illegal now)