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The Supreme Court Empowers Employers to Lock Out Workers
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June 21, 2013 | WORKERS' RIGHTS | The seventh article in a Truth-Out series in the National Labor Relations Act by law experts Ann Hodges and Ellen Dannin explains that workers' right to strike is protected under the Act, but it is silent on lockouts. "Judges have judicially amended the NLRA to weaken strikes, while making lockouts far more powerful. The NLRA has been interpreted to create two types of lockouts — defensive lockouts and offensive lockouts. Early decisions allowed employers to use 'defensive lockouts.' Defensive lockouts were times by employers to take place when an employer would be less vulnerable and, depending on the industry, the employees would feel more pressure from being out of work…In other words, the employer could time the work stoppage to reduce its impact and its power." Learn more about how judicial decisions regarding lockouts create a clear conflict with the purpose of the law Congress enacted.
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