They did so with one of the machinists' strikes for which Washington, where the union-friendly closed shop is legal, has an unfortunate reputation.

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One reason is Mexico's labour laws, and in particular the closed shop, whereby only one union is recognised in each company.

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The National Football League is a closed shop, which has been dubbed "socialist capitalism".

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Hundreds of daily news publications around the U.S. have closed up shop in the past several years and even Newsweek is up for sale.

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