lockout

/lok"owt'/, n.

the temporary closing of a business or the refusal by an employer to allow employees to come to work until they accept the employer's terms.

[1850-55; n. use of v. phrase lock out]

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Tactic used by employers in labour disputes, in which employees are locked out of the workplace or otherwise denied employment.

In the 1880s and '90s, factory owners in the U.S. often used lockouts against the Knights of Labor, which was struggling to organize industries such as meatpacking and cigar making. The lockout has been used less frequently in modern times, usually as part of a pact among members of employers' associations to frustrate labour unions by closing work facilities in response to strikes.

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▪ labour relations

      the tactic of withholding employment, typically used by employers to hinder union organization or to gain leverage in labour disputes. It is often accomplished by literally locking employees out of the workplace, but it can also be achieved through work stoppage, layoffs, or the hiring of nonunion replacement workers.

      In the United States, lockouts became a common tactic by employers in the 1880s and '90s, when unions of silver and lead miners in Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah were fighting for an eight-hour day and higher pay. During this period the lockout was also used against the Knights of Labor (KOL) in industries that included meatpacking, cigar making, knitting, and laundering. In fact, the lockout strategy was central to the KOL's demise.

      A lockout can lead to the permanent replacement of striking workers. This tactic gained national recognition in the United States in 1981 during a strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers union (PATCO) for better hours and improved working conditions. The highly skilled air traffic controllers believed they could not be replaced. As federal government employees, however, it was illegal for PATCO members to strike. President Ronald Reagan (Reagan, Ronald W.) ordered the replacement of strikers through the hiring of retirees and controllers from other areas such as the military. The success of this strategy led other employers to use the lockout as a tool against labour strikes.

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