| A | B |
|---|
| agency shop | a business in which workers cannot be forced to join a union but must pay union dues |
| arbitration | a method of settling differences between labor unions and employers in which a third party's decision must be accepted by both sides |
| blacklist | a method once used by employers in which companies create and share lists of workers active in labor unions and refuse to hire those workers |
| business cycle | the tendency of a free-market economy to go back and forth between good times and bad times |
| closed shop | a business in which only union members can be hired |
| collective bargaining | a process in which representatives of a labor union and an employer work to reach an agreement about wages and working conditions |
| contraction | a period in a business cycle during which the economy is slowing |
| costs of productions | business costs, such as wages, payments for raw materials, transportation, rent, and interest on borrowed money |
| depression | a sharp decline in a nation's business activity, during which many workers lose their jobs and many businesses close down |
| expansion | a period in a business cycle during which the economy is growing |
| featherbedding | a practice once used by unions to force employers to hire more workers than are needed |
| fiscal policy | a government's policy of taxation and spending |
| inflation | a rise in the costs of goods and services |
| job action | any kind of slowdown or action short of a strike |
| labor union | an organization of workers formed to bargain for higher wages and improved working conditions and to protect workers' rights |
| lockout | a method once used by employers to fight labor slowdowns by locking workers out, thus preventing them from earning wages |
| mediation | a method of settling disputes between labor unions and employers through the use of a third party who offers a nonbonding solution |
| monetary policy | a government's policy of regulating the amount of money in the economy |
| open shop | a business that employs both union and nonunion workers |
| peak | a high point in the business cycle |
| picket | to march in front of one's workplace, often with signs urging others not to work for the company or buy its goods and services |
| recession | a severe contraction in a business cycle |
| right-to-work law | a law passed by certain states that forbids closed shops and makes union membership voluntary |
| strike | a situation in which workers walk off the job and refuse to work until labor issues are settled |
| trough | a low point in a business cycle |
| union shop | a business in which a nonunion worker may be hired but must join a union within a certain period of time |
