Hostname: page-component-669899f699-g7b4s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-25T23:43:45.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of the Closed Shop on the Union Movement: A Preliminary View

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Gianni Zappala'
Gianni Zappala'*
Affiliation:
Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Teaching
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper provides a preliminary review of the effrects of closed shop arrangements on trade unions. In doing os it addresses four hypotheses: whether the closed shop reduces union militancy; whether it leads to poorer services; whether it affects bargaining power; and whether it leads to increased membership.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , December 1991 , pp. 65 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

*

I wish to thank colleagues at the University of Sydney for useful comments and Lintin Duffin for research assistance

References

Bassett, P (1987) Strike Free Papermac, London.Google Scholar
Blain, N (1985) ‘Federal and State Unions in Western Australia’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 27(2) pp.207–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchflower, D, Oswald, A (1988) ‘The Economic Effects of Trade Unions’, Employment Institute Economic Report, 3(10).Google Scholar
Brown, W, Wadhwani, S (1990) ‘The Economic Effects of Industrial Relations Legislation Since 1979’ Discussion Paper 376, Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, T.M. (1983) ‘Right to Work Laws Do Matter’, Southern Economic Journal, 50(2) pp.494–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, S, Maki, D (1981) ‘The Union Wage Effect in Canadian Manufacturing Industries’, Journal of Labor Research, 2(2) pp.355–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cordova, E, Ozaki, M (1980) ‘Union security arrangements: An international overview’, international Labour Review, 119(1) pp. 19–38.Google Scholar
Crean, S, Rimmer, M (1990) Australian Unions Adjustment to Change Monash University.Google Scholar
Davis, E (1987) Democracy in Australian Unions Allen & Unwin, Sydney.Google Scholar
Deery, S (1989) ‘Union Aims and Methods’ in Ford, B., Plowman, D. (ed) Australian Unions An Industrial Relations Perspective 2nd ed., Macmillan, Sydney.Google Scholar
Dufty, N (1981) ‘Conscripts and Volunteers’, Australian Bulletin of Labour, 7(2) pp.88–104.Google Scholar
Dunn, S, Gennard, J (1984) The Closed Shop in British Industry Macmillan, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellwood, D.T., Fine, G (1987) ‘The Impact of Right-to-Work Laws on Union Organizing’ Journal of Political Economy 95(2) pp.250–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farber, H.S. (1984) ‘Right-to-Work Laws and the Extent of Unionization’, Journal of Labor Economics, 2(3) pp.319–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finn, E (1977) ‘The case against ‘right-to-work’ laws’ The Labour Gazette October, pp.446–49.Google Scholar
Gallaway, L.E. (1966) ‘The Economics of the Right-To-Work Controversy’, Southern Economic Journal, 32(3) pp.310–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geare, A.J. (1988) The system of industrial relations in New Zealand Butterworths, Wellington.Google Scholar
Geare, A.J. (1989) ‘Managerial views on compulsory unionism in New Zealand’, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 14, pp.231–40.Google Scholar
Geare, A.J. (1990) ‘Do Bosses Still Love the Closed Shop?’, Employee Relations, 12(6) pp.17–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, D (1966) ‘A Statistical Analysis of the Right-To-Work Conflict’ Industrial and Labor Relations Review 19 pp.533–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, F, Zappala, J (1990) ‘The Closed Shop Revisited: An Essay on Method’ ACIRRT Working Paper 6, University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Gramm, C.L. (1986) ‘The Determinants of Strike Incidence and Severity: A Micro-Level Study’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 39(3) pp.361–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, G (1983) ‘White Collar Unionism 1969 to 1981: Some Determinants of Growth’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 25(1).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, C., Jackson, S., Miller, D (1982) The Closed Shop Gower, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Harbridge, R, Walsh, P (1985) ‘Legislation prohibiting the closed shop in New Zealand: Its introduction and consequences’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 27(2) pp.191–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbridge, R, Webber, S (1987) ‘Trends in official union membership: 1983–85’, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 12(2) pp.81–88.Google Scholar
Harrison, S (1987) ‘The Closed Shop and the National Health Service: A Case Study in Public Sector Labour Relations’, Journal of Social Politics, 17(1) pp.61–81.Google Scholar
Hill, J.D. (1984) ‘Australian Union Density Rates 1976–1982’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 26(4) pp.435–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassalow, E.M. (1980) ‘The Closed and Union Shop in Western Europe, An American Perspective’, Journal of Labor Research, 1(2) pp.323–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lansbury, R.D. (1977) ‘The Growth and Unionization of White Collar workers in Australia: Some Recent Trends’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 19(1) pp.34–49.Google Scholar
Lumsden, K, Petersen, C (1975) ‘The Effect of Right-to-Work Laws on Unionization in the United States’, Journal of Political Economy, 83(6) pp. 1237–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, W.E.J. (1964) The Closed Shop in Britain Basil Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
McIntosh, B, Gurdon, M.A. (1986) ‘Factors Influencing Health and Safety Performance in New Zealand’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 28(4) pp.521–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metcalf, D (1989a) ‘Trade Unions and Economic Performance: The British Evidence’ LSE Quarterly 3.Google Scholar
Metcalf, D (1989b) ‘Smithfield Meat Market: The Ultimate Pre-Entry Closed Shop’ Discussion Paper 364, Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics.Google Scholar
Metcalf, D (1989c) ‘Can the closed shop ban open new doors for unions?’ Personnel Management September, pp.32–6.Google Scholar
Metcalf, D, Stewart, M (1989) ‘Union Recognition, the Closed Shop and Relative Pay’ London School of Economics, mimeo.Google Scholar
Moore, W.J. (1980) ‘Membership and Wage Impact of Right-to Work Laws’, Journal of Labor Research, 1(1) pp.349–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, W.J., Newman, R.J. (1985) ‘The Effects of Right-To-Work Laws: A Review of the Literature’ Industrial and Labor Relations Review 38(4) pp.571–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, R (1981) ‘The Employer’s Free Selection of Labour and the Waterfront Closed Shop’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 23(1) pp.49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, P, Marginson, P (1990) ‘Skating on Thin Ice?: David Metcalf on Trade Unions and Productivity’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 28(2) pp.227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawson, D.W. (1976) Unions and Unionists in Australia Allen & Unwin, Sydney.Google Scholar
Rawson, D.W. (1990) ‘What People thought about unions in January 1990’ Australian National University, mimeo.Google Scholar
Reid, J.D., Faith, R.L. (1987) ‘Right-to-Work and Union Compensation Structure’, Journal of Labor Research, 8(2) pp. 111–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, M., Millward, N, Smart, D (1989) ‘Trade Union membership and the closed shop in 1989’ Employment Gazette November, pp.615–23.Google Scholar
Stewart, M.B. (1987) ‘Collective Bargaining Arrangements, Closed Shops and Relative Pay’ The Economic Journal 97 pp.140–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swidinsky, R (1982) ‘Bargaining Power Under Compulsory Unionism’, Industrial Relations, 21(1) pp.62–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warren, R.S., Strauss, R.P. (1979) ‘A Mixed Logit Model of the Relationship between Unionization and Right-to-Work Legislation’, Journal of Political Economy, 87(3) pp.648–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wessels, W.J. (1981) ‘Economic Effects of Right to Work Laws’, Journal of Labor Research, 2(1) pp.55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, M (1981) ‘Unionisation in Australia and Coverage of the Closed Shop’, Australian Bulletin of Labour, 7(3) pp.122–138.Google Scholar
Woods, N.S. (1975) Industrial Relations: a search for understanding Hicks Smith & Sons, Wellington.Google Scholar
Zappala, G (1991) ‘A New Framework for the Closed Shop in Australian industrial relations' ACIRRT Working Paper 13 University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Zappala, G (1991a) ‘The extent and coverage of compulsory unionism in Australia’ ACIRRT mimeo, University of Sydney.Google Scholar