MANAGEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE; STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS- LEGAL ASPECTS

Overview
Act aims at bringing in conflicts between employer and employee to an amicable settlement and at the same time it makes provisions for some of the other problems that may arise from time to time in an industrial or commercial undertaking which came within the purview of the definition of industry as defined by section 2 (j) of the Act.

Strike
Cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any industry, acting in combination or a concerted refusal, or a refusal under a common understanding, or any number of persons who are or have been so employed to continue to work or to accept employment [section 2(q)]

The term strike postulates 3 main ingredients, namely:

Plurality of workmen Cessation of work or refusal to do work, Combines or concerted(to act together) action

Lock-out
The temporary closing of a place of employment or the suspension of work, or a refusal by the employer to continue to employ and the number of person employed by him [section 2(1)]

Conditions for going on a strike

Employees are prohibited from striking according to the section 22 of Industrial Disputes Act 1947. Employees, who are working in a public utility service, cannot go on a strike without giving a notice of strike within the six weeks before striking. They cannot go on strike either within fourteen days of providing the strike notice or before the expiry of the date of strike specified in any such notice. The same rule applies to the employers. Employers who are carrying on a public utility service cannot lockout any of their employees without giving them a prior notice within six weeks before the lock out

illegal Strikes and Lock-Outs

A strike or a lock-out is illegal if it is declared in noncompliance with the section 22 of Industrial Disputes Act 1947, that is, if the notice period is not served or if the strike is held within the fourteen days of issuing the notice of strike. If a strike or lockout has already taken place and is being referred t a Board, the continuance of such a strike or lockout is not illegal. Moreover, a lockout declared in consequence of an illegal strike or a strike declared in consequence of an illegal lock-out shall not be deemed to be illegal.

Penalty for illegal Strikes and Lock-outs

A workman who is involved in an illegal strike can be penalized with imprisonment for a term extendable to a month or with a fine or fifty rupees or both. In similar way, an employer who initiates and continues a lockout is punishable with imprisonment extendable to a month or with a fine of one thousand rupees or both.

National Strikes and Lockouts

JET AIRWAYSS PILOT STRIKE

Jets pilot wanted to unionize as per their right being a workman[section 2(s)] Jet fired two employees instrumental in unionization. Other pilots joined the strike. The airlines took disciplinary action against 8 pilots 640 pilots called for a strike on August 7 demanding reinstatement of the two sacked colleagues. The matter was then referred to the Regional Labor Commission (RLC) for conciliation. The commissioner called a conciliatory meeting on August 31st advising both Jet Airways and Pilots to adhere to ID Act of 1947. As per Section 23- Jet cannot terminate the service of any pilot and the pilot cannot go on a strike as long as the matter was under conciliation. The pilots withdrew the strike call on September 7th but went on mass sick leave to protest the sacking. The Pilots resorted to an illegal simulated strike by reporting sick.

MARUTI MANESAR VIOLENCE

On 18 July 2012, Maruti's Manesar plant was hit by violence as workers at one of its auto factories attacked supervisors and started a fire that killed a company official and injured 100 managers. After the incident Maruti Suzuki India ltd announced an indefinite lockout at Manesar plant. Under the provisions of The Industrial Disputes Act , the report claimed, employees are expected to be paid wages for the duration of the lockout. On July 26, 2012, Maruti announced employees would not be paid for the period of lock-out in accordance with labor laws of India. The company further announced that it will stop using contract workers by March 2013. Labour activists in touch with workers say that relations between workers and the management had been strained for some time.

INTERNATIONAL LOCKOUTS

The Dublin Lock-out

It 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.

 Poverty was perpetuated in Dublin by the lack of occupational opportunities for unskilled workers. Prior to the advent of trade unionism in Ireland, unskilled workers lacked any form of representation. Furthermore, there were many more unskilled laborers in Dublin than there were jobs for them. Thus unskilled workers often had to compete with one another for work on a daily basis, the job generally going to whoever agreed to work for the lowest wages

Legal prohibitions on strikes

In Canada there is no constitutional right to strike, as per a 1987 Supreme Court ruling on a reference case brought by the province of Alberta. In Canada the federal and provincial governments can (and often do) introduce "back to work legislation" that ends a strike (or a lockout) by declaring it illegal. In France, the right to strike is recognized and guaranteed by the Constitution. A law "on social dialogue and continuity of public service in regular terrestrial transports of passengers" enforces certain categories of public transport workers (such as train and bus drivers) to declare to their employer 48 hours in advance if they intend to go on strike. In the United Kingdom the Industrial Relations Act 1971 was repealed through the Trade Union and Labor Relations Act 1974, sections of which were repealed by the Employment Act 1982