Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The hiring of more workers than necessary or the limiting of worker productivity in order to allow employment of more persons, usually as a result of a union contract with an employer.
- noun The paying for services that are not actually performed, as in a union-imposed fee upon an employer.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb Present participle of
featherbed . - noun US The
employment of moreworkers than is necessary because ofunion rules, especially upon the introduction of new technology
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the practice (usually by a labor union) of requiring an employer to hire more workers than are required
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word featherbedding.
Examples
-
Let us look at the class of people who have the weak moral fibre sufficient to indulge in featherbedding.
Archive 2007-06-01 2007
-
Abramoff described his practice of "featherbedding" - making job offers to chiefs of staff in Congress.
Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis Dana Milbank 2012
-
Abramoff described his practice of "featherbedding" - making job offers to chiefs of staff in Congress.
Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis Dana Milbank 2012
-
I'm afraid I don't quite know what the $20 million is that you're referring to, and I certainly don't support "featherbedding", since I'm no friend of large, inefficient corporate consultancies.
Gartner's Trough of Disillusionment glyn moody 2007
-
I'll give you a hint: look up the term "featherbedding".
August 21st, 2005 kinkyturtle 2005
-
"These 'featherbedding' provisions sought by Local 63 OCU are unacceptable, and they run counter to the employers 'efforts to reach fair and reasonable contracts that provide for staffing based on business requirements and that reflect today's economic conditions."
-
I don't know of anyone "featherbedding" their nests and if they were - they chose a pretty bad place to do it considering the brutal hours and relatively low pay that people get working for the NDP.
-
Sounds like featherbedding, but no one is going to speak up with the heat always dialed in to a comfortable 70 degrees at the PPA.
Michael Martin: What Choice Do We Have in November? We're Not Free Regardless Who Wins Michael Martin 2010
-
Sounds like featherbedding, but no one is going to speak up with the heat always dialed in to a comfortable 70 degrees at the PPA.
Michael Martin: What Choice Do We Have in November? We're Not Free Regardless Who Wins Michael Martin 2010
-
Sounds like featherbedding, but no one is going to speak up with the heat always dialed in to a comfortable 70 degrees at the PPA.
Michael Martin: What Choice Do We Have in November? We're Not Free Regardless Who Wins Michael Martin 2010
whichbe commented on the word featherbedding
The practice of forcing the employer (by union rule, etc.) to hire more workers than needed (or to limit his workers' production). (From WordCraft)
May 20, 2008