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.
Compare open shop.
Origin
1900-05, Americanism
Examples from the web for closed shop
  • It actually closed shop a year earlier than planned, and earned a tidy profit.
  • Taxi driving, a job in which immigrants often predominate, is another closed shop.
  • New-home sales are sluggish and many builders have either closed shop or filed for bankruptcy court protection.
  • Stiles closed shop and also packed to leave the territory.
  • The military regime runs a firmly closed shop without openness and contrary views.
British Dictionary definitions for closed shop

closed shop

noun
1.
(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 in Culture

closed shop definition


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.