On 1/14/2011 11:17 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Bob Fitch (cue the haters!) says that the closed shop is part of the
> reason for U.S. unions' weak state. By being granted a monopoly, they
> don't have to do a damn thing for the members. In countries like
> France, where several unions compete, often on political grounds, the
> unions are livelier and more popular.
In France, every large workplace is required to have periodic elections to choose union delegates and worker representatives on enterprise committees. Every workplace has all its wages and working conditions covered by a union-negotiated contract. There is no union shop or non-union shop. There is no obligation for workers to request a union election, it's automatic. Under those conditions, competition among unions is healthy.
Under the conditions that exist in anglo-saxon countries, where individual bargaining and a non-union workplace are the legal default, union competition would obviously be suicidal. That's why we don't have union competition in this country.
SA