" There are
certain industries so well centralized, however, that their
coercive power is greater than that of the labor union, and these
have maintained a consistent hostility to the closed shop. The
question of the closed shop is, indeed, the most stubborn issue
confronting the union. The principle involves the employment of
only union men in a shop; it means a monopoly of jobs by members
of the union. The issue is as old as the unions themselves and as
perplexing as human nature. As early as 1806 it was contended for
by the Philadelphia cordwainers and by 1860 it had become an
established union policy. While wages and hours are now, in the
greater industrial fields, the subject of a collective contract,
this question of union monopoly is still open, though there has
been some progress towards an adjustment. Wherever the trade
agreement provides for a closed shop, the union, through its
proper committees and officers, assumes at least part of the
responsibility of the discipline. The agreement also includes
methods for arbitrating differences. The acid test of the union
is its capacity to live up to this trade agreement.
For the purpose of forcing its policies upon its employers and
society the unions have resorted to the strike and picketing, the
boycott, and the union label. When violence occurs, it usually is
the concomitant of a strike; but violence unaccompanied by a
strike is sometimes used as a union weapon.
The strike is the oldest and most spectacular weapon in the hands
of labor.
Pages:
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153