Closed Shop

With Closed Shop (Eng. closed operation) is meant the " closure" of an operation (Shop) compared to non-unionized workers. In a closed shop, all employees are required to be members of a trade union or to be after her operation entry. Meaning of closed shop is to prevent non- union, without having achieved their own contribution, participate in wage increases and improved working conditions that have prevailed unions as collective good for all workers ( free-rider problem).

Conceptually, the closed shop is distinguished from similar union shop, where even non union are set to be a union member but either within a certain period of time or have to pay a mandatory membership fee. In common parlance, however, Union shops are often grouped under the term closed shops.

Legal situation in the EU

In the Federal Republic of Germany organizational or blocking clauses of this kind are not permitted; they conflict with the negative freedom.

Even after the European Court of Human Rights considers a closed shop rules as a violation of freedom of association inadmissible ( Case No. 52562/99 and 52620/99 " Sorensen and Rasmussen v Denmark ", especially paragraph 58 of the judgment).

Closed Shop in British social history

In Britain, the closed shop has a long tradition. Already the early historian of the English trade union movement, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, have the usual in some industries form the " obligatory Trade Unionism " towards that which results from the nature of the collective agreement. There would also be motives of entrepreneurs to hold their opponents by a Lohnunterbietung. So, for example, forced unions and entrepreneurs united in the boot and shoe industry, the non-organized minorities to accept the agreed common wage and labor standards. In the coal fields of South Wales, the contractor retained from the wages of all workers, whether union member or not, to contribute one which was paid over to the relevant trade union.

The Industrial Relations researcher McCarthy distinguishes between "pre -entry closed shop " (employee must be a union member to be set ) and "post -entry closed shop " ( workers must be on the setting union member). The first, less common form was to be found until the mid- 1980s, particularly in the newspaper printing and the docks.

According to a survey in 1978 worked at least a quarter of UK workers under a closed shop agreement.

By the legislation of the Thatcher government of the closed shop was gradually banned in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Closed Shop in German social history

The extent to which forms of closed shop - for example in an informal and latent form: through social pressure forced membership - in German social history played a role, is not explored. It is known, however, a formal closed shop ( " Absperrklausel " ) in the printing industry. In this business, the employers association and the union of printing had early agreed on a " collective community". In 1906 she signed a " organization agreement " with the mutual recognition of the collective bargaining parties as " factors of order " and the obligation that together make up the employers 'association firms employ only union members and vice versa union members were allowed to work only in the collective agreement Company of the employers' association. This bilateral closed shop served the company of the printing industry to combat the so-called " dirt competition " of wage undercutting companies.