union shop

American  

noun

1. a shop, business establishment, or part thereof, in which terms and conditions of employment for all employees are fixed by agreement between the employer and a labor union.

2. a shop, business, etc., in which membership in a union is made a condition of employment, but in which the employer may hire nonunion workers provided that they become members after a stated period, usually 30 days.

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union shop British  

noun

1. (formerly) an establishment whose employment policy is governed by a contract between employer and a trade union permitting the employment of nonunion labour only on the condition that such labour joins the union within a specified time period Compare open shop closed shop

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union shop Cultural  

1. A business or industry in which all new workers must join a labor union after a specified period of time. (See closed shop and right-to-work laws.)

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Etymology

Origin of union shop

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Conversations no longer focused on his dad’s latest story, but on the duties he had to fulfill as a union shop steward.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2023

A trade union shop steward in Glasgow's shipyards before he moved into football, Ferguson's final team talk concentrated on working-class values.

From BBC • May 7, 2023

Brown, who wears suits purchased from a union shop near his Cleveland home, has developed an old-school network of union support over a decades-long political career that began in the General Assembly.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 3, 2023

Democratic hopefuls Stuart Anderson, an ex-offender and community activist, and Richard Campbell, retired D.C. government worker and union shop steward, are legitimate candidates.

From Washington Post • Nov. 15, 2019

They drew up an agreement in which the preferential union shop again appeared as the basis of future operations, formulated as in the Brandeis conference.

From Making Both Ends Meet The income and outlay of New York working girls by Clark, Sue Ainslie