Frequently Asked Questions
Strikes, Lockouts & Picketing
When a trade union is unable to negotiate a collective agreement, they sometimes choose to strike an employer. A strike includes (1) a cessation of work, (2) a refusal to work, or (3) a refusal to continue to work, by two or more employees for the purpose of compelling their employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment. Similarly, employers may choose to lockout their workers. A lockout includes (1) the closing of a place of employment by an employer, (2) the suspension of work by an employer, or (3) a refusal by an employer to continue to employ employees for the purpose of compelling employees to agree to terms of conditions of employment. Strikes and lockouts are often accompanied by picketing at the employers place of business.
Questions:
When can a union go on strike? Is a striking or locked-out employee still considered an employee? Do my benefits continue while I am on strike or locked out? What happens during an illegal strike or lockout? Were locked out. Can we picket our employer?
Q: When can a union go on strike? A: There are several requirements for unions to hold a legal strike. These include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Any collective agreement between the union and the employer must be expired. The parties must enter into collective bargaining. The parties must work with a government- appointed mediator. A 14-day cooling-off period must elapse following mediation. A Labour Board-supervised strike vote (unions) or lockout poll (employers) must be taken and a majority of those voting must agree to the strike or lockout. 6. One party must serve the other (as well as the mediator) with 72 hours of notice before the strike or lockout commences. More information is available in the Information Bulletin #17. Top
Q: Is a striking or locked-out employee still considered an employee? A: Yes. Although employees are not working and are not entitled to pay, they are still considered employees and cannot be terminated simply because of being on strike or locked out. When the strike or lockout ends, they are entitled to be reinstated in preference to any employee hired as a replacement during the dispute. An employee must ask for this reinstatement as soon as the strike or lockout is over. This reinstatement provision does not mean that all employees will be automatically recalled as soon as a strike or lockout is over. For example, markets may be lost causing production to be reduced. Top
Q: Do my benefits continue while I am on strike or locked out?
Frequently Asked Questions
Strikes, Lockouts & Picketing When a trade union is unable to negotiate a collective agreement, they sometimes choose to strike an employer. A strike includes (1) a cessation of work, (2) a refusal to work, or (3) a refusal to continue to work, by two or more employees for the purpose of compelling their employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment. Similarly, employers may choose to lockout their workers. A lockout includes (1) the closing of a place of employment by an employer, (2) the suspension of work by an employer, or (3) a refusal by an employer to continue to employ employees for the purpose of compelling employees to agree to terms of conditions of employment. Strikes and lockouts are often accompanied by picketing at the employers place of business. Questions:
When can a union go on strike? Is a striking or locked-out employee still considered an employee? Do my benefits continue while I am on strike or locked out? What happens during an illegal strike or lockout? Were locked out. Can we picket our employer? When can a union go on strike?
Q:
A: There are several requirements for unions to hold a legal strike. These include: 1. Any collective agreement between the union and the employer must be expired. 2. The parties must enter into collective bargaining. 3. The parties must work with a government- appointed mediator. 4. A 14-day cooling-off period must elapse following mediation. 5. A Labour Board-supervised strike vote (unions) or
A lockout is a temporary work stoppage or denial of employment during a labor dispute initiated by the management of a company.[1] This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work. It is usually implemented by simply refusing to admit employees onto company premises, and may include actions such as changing locks and hiring security guards for the premises. Other implementations include a fine for showing up, or a simple refusal of clockingin on the time clock. It therefore referred as antithesis of strike. [2]
Causes
A lockout is generally used to enforce terms of employment upon a group of employees during a dispute. A lockout can act to force unionized workers to accept changed conditions such as lower wages. If the union is asking for higher wages, or better benefits, an employer may use the threat of a lockout or an actual lockout to convince the union to back down. [edit]Examples [edit]Ireland The Dublin Lockout (Irish: Frithdhnadh Mr Bhaile-tha-Cliath) was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers which took place in Ireland's capital city of Dublin. The dispute lasted from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, and is often viewed as the most severe and significant industrial dispute in Irish history. Central to the dispute was the workers' right to unionize. [edit]United
States
In the United States, under federal labor law, an employer may hire only temporary replacements during a lockout. In a strike, unless it is an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike, an employer may legally hire permanent replacements. Also, in many U.S. states, employees who are locked out are eligible to receive unemployment benefits, but are not eligible for such benefits during a strike.[citation needed] For the above reasons, many American employers have historically been reluctant to impose lockouts, instead attempting to provoke a strike. However, as American unions have increasingly begun to resort to slowdowns rather than strikes, lockouts have become a more common tactic of many employers. Even as incidents of strikes are on the decline, incidents of lockouts are on the rise in the U.S. Recent notable lockout incidents have been reported in professional sports, notably involving Major League Baseball in the 1990 offseason, the National Basketball Association in the 1995 offseason, the 1996 offseason, and the 199899 and 201112 seasons, the National Hockey League in the 199495, 200405 and 201213seasons, and the National Football League in the 2011 offseason. The controversial 2012 NFL referee lockout only involved referees and not players. In 2005, the NHL became the first major professional sports league in North America to cancel an entire season due to a lockout.[citation needed]
[edit]Australia On 8 April 1998, stevedoring company Patrick Corporation sought to restructure its operations for productivity reasons. In an industrial watershed event, it sacked all its workers and imposed a lockout on wharves around Australia.[3] On 29 October 2011, Qantas Airways declared a lockout of all domestic employees in the face of ongoing union industrial action. This cancelled all flights, grounding the entire fleet for several days.[4] [edit]Lock-in The term lock-in refers to the practice of physically preventing workers from leaving a workplace. In most jurisdictions this is illegal but is occasionally reported, especially in some developing countries.[citation needed] Lock-ins should not be confused with a sit-down strike like the Flint Sit-Down Strike between the United Automobile Workers and General Motors Corporation. More recently, lock-ins have been carried out by employees against management, which have been labelled 'bossnapping' by the mainstream media. In France during March 2009, 3M's national manager was locked in his office for 24 hours by employees in a dispute over redundancies.[5][6][7] The following month, union employees of a call centre managed by Synovate in Auckland locked the front doors of the office, in response to management locking them out.[8] Such practices bear some resemblance to the gherao in India. It is also caused by disagreement between employer and employees in a certain department.
