closed shop

noun

1. a factory, office, or other business establishment in which union membership is a condition of being hired as well as of continued employment.

closed shop

noun

1. See union shop, open shop
   (formerly) an industrial establishment in which there exists a contract between a trade union and the employer permitting the employment of the union's members only Compare open shop union shop

closed shop

1. Technically, a business in which employees must join a labor union before being hired. This practice is now illegal. The term is used synonymously with union shop .

Word History and Origins

Origin of closed shop¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05

Example Sentences

Narrowly focused groups like the American Foundation for Equal Rights and Freedom to Marry simply closed shop.

From Time

Social media has lit up with pictures of signs posted on the doors of closed shops, declaring that there’s no one there to work.

From Washington Post

He closed shop in 1984, though he continued creating custom designs for friends and family till his death of AIDS in 1990.

From The Daily Beast

She was in favor of unions, she said, “but I'm not in favor of a closed shop.”

From The Daily Beast

The conspiracy trials largely turned upon the "closed shop" and in these the shoemakers figured exclusively.

From Project Gutenberg

These, goaded by restrictive union practices, notably the closed shop, appealed to the courts for relief.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus it was the effort of the shoemakers' society to secure a closed shop which fell chiefly under the condemnation of the court.

From Project Gutenberg

Of all journeymen indicted during this period the Hudson shoemakers had been the most audacious ones in enforcing the closed shop.

From Project Gutenberg

These attempts failed because the Union insisted on the question of the closed shop as essential.

From Project Gutenberg