open shop

noun

1. a factory, office, or other business establishment in which a union, chosen by a majority of the employees, acts as representative of all the employees in making agreements with the employer, but in which union membership is not a condition of employment.

open shop

noun

1. an establishment in which persons are hired and employed irrespective of their membership or nonmembership of a trade union Compare closed shop union shop

open shop

1. A business that employs both unionized and nonunionized labor.

Other Words From

• open-shop adjective
• anti-open-shop noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of open shop¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Critics blame New York’s slow retail growth partly on bureaucratic issues, like delays in setting up a $200 million “social equity” fund to help applicants open shops.

From Seattle Times

A long queue formed outside the only open shop as people sought supplies.

From Reuters

It was the “open shop capital of America.”

From Los Angeles Times

The march was to “raise a voice against the hate” and “open shops of love in the bazaar of hate,” he said.

From Seattle Times

The Ukrainian national anthem sounded on many corners as the day grew more festive, often wafting out from open shop doors, sometimes from car windows and once from a speaker mounted on a horse-drawn wagon.

From Washington Post