.. by the manufacturers, ... and that aid could be effectively
... given by providing that the manufacturers should, in the employment
of labor hereafter, give preference to Union men, where the Union men
were equal in efficiency to any non-union applicants.... That presented
in the rough what seemed to me a proper basis for coming together.... I
think, if such an arrangement as we have discussed can be accomplished,
it will be the greatest advance, not only that unionism has made in this
country, but it would be one of the greatest advances that has generally
been made in improving the condition of the working-man, for which
unionism is merely an instrument."
This, then, was the first public presentation of the idea of the
preferential shop. Mr. Brandeis, as a result of close study of labor
disputes and a rich experience in settling strikes, had reached the
conclusion that the position of the adherents of the closed as well as
those of the open shop was economically and socially untenable. The
inherent objection to the closed shop, he contends, is that it creates an
uncontrolled and irresponsible monopoly of labor.
On the other hand, the so-called open shop, even if conducted with
fairness and honesty on the part of the employer, is apt to result in a
disintegration of the Union.
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