Question

Explain the difference between closed, open, union, and agency shop agreements. What impact did the Taft-Hartley Act have on the use of closed and union shop arrangements?

Answer 1

Note that there are three ways a firm can have union workers. In a union shop, the existing members were required to be a member of the union within 30 days of their joining. It was not necessary for employer to hire a union worker. However, the same was necessary for the worker and the time frame under which he had to be a union member was 30 days. In an open shop, there was no such requirement. There were both union and non-members working under the same shop. In contrast to a union and an open shop, a closed shop required employers to hire only union members. This implied, they had to hire workers who were already a member of some union. Taft-Harley Act of 1947 was directed towards controlling and restricting labor unions. With this aim the act proposed to allow states to ban union shops and limit closed shops. This could be achieved by enacting right-to-work laws. The law also prohibited secondary boycotts and Jurisdictional disputes.