Since every man has the right to sell his labor as he sees fit,
he has the right not to sell it to the employer who wants an
"open shop."

Every man has the right to say: "I will not work for you un-
less you make a contract with the union to which I belong, and
agree to employ none but members of that union." To say that
he may not say this is equivalent to saying that he must sell his
labor, not as he sees fit, but as the employer sees fit. . ..
Even if all the courts in the country should decide that the
union shop contract is illegal, an impossible supposition, the



iro LABOR AND THE EMPLOYER

union shop would not disappear. The only result would be that
no such contract would be made; the condition would be en-
forced without written contract.
You can not, the courts of the whole United States can not,
force American citizens to work for employers they do not trust
or like, or associate with workmen they do not like or respect.
Men can not be imprisoned for refusing to work under certain
conditions and the injunction can not be employed in such a
case. . ..
