CLOSED SHOP: An employment arrangement, usually written into a collective bargaining agreement, in which a firm is allowed to hire only labor union members. Because this gives a labor union complete control over the labor services supplied to a particular firm, it was one of the earliest methods used by labor unions to monopolized a labor market. However, closed shops were outlawed by the Taft-Hartley Act passed in 1947 and has been largely supplanted by union shops. See also | labor union | union shop | open shop | right to work | collective bargaining | supply to a firm | Taft-Hartley Act | factor market | monopoly | market control | yellow-dog contract |
