labor union terms

Closed shop

establishment were only union workers are employed (Illegal now, outlawed by Taft Hartley act)

Yellow dog contract

agreement by what your worker promises not to join the union if hired and which he must sign before employment is granted (illegal now and outlawed by Taft Hartley act) + A worker promises not to join a union before they are hired (illegal now)

Open shop

Establishment where employment is not restricted to union members

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 unemployment 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

organize effort of workers through representatives of their own choice for dealing with employers to determine wages hours in working conditions (very common)

Mediation

hearing a third-party’s opinion for settling in 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 for bidding unions to engage in certain activities defined as punishable

Lookout

closing a plant by management to pressure workers to accept employers terms

Pinkertons

security agency hired by owners to prevent or end of strike with force if necessary

scab

outsider who was 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