LEGAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT

BBA 301

STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN INDIA

Submitted to :: Ms.Monika Bisht

Submitted by :Saloni Nanda BBA 4519/09

Sajal Banerjee BBA4548/09

We sincerely thanks Ms. Monika Bisht for giving us an
o p p o r t u n i t y t o w o r k o n s u c h a pr o j e c t . W e a l s o t h a n k v a r i o u s
o f f i c i a l s f or p r o v i d i n g n e c e s s a r y i nf o r m a t i o n w h i c h h e l p e d u s
i n o r d e r t o c o m p i l e t h i s pr o j e c t i n a b e t t er m a n n e r .

We have tried to cover all the aspects of the project and

every care has taken to make project faultless.

W e w i l l b e l o o ki n g f o r s u c h t y p e o f p r oj e c t t o in future and
do our best.
 LEGAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT
STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS IN INDIA

Concepts and definitions

Strike
A 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, of any number of
persons who are or have been so employed to continue to work
or to accept employment.
Lockout
The temporary closing of a place of employment or the
suspension of work or the refusal by an employer to continue
to employ any number of persons employed by him. These
definitions come from the Industrial Dispute Act 1947.

Causes
A lockout may happen for several reasons. When only part of a
trade union votes to strike, the purpose of a lockout is to put
pressure on a union by reducing the number of members who
are able to work. For example, if the anticipated strike severely
hampers work of non-striking workers, the employer may
declare a lockout until the workers end the strike. Another case
in which an employer may impose a lockout is to avoid
slowdowns or intermittent work-stoppages.Other times,
particularly in the United States, a lockout occurs when union
membership rejects the company's final offer at negotiations
and offers to return to work under the same conditions of
employment as existed under the now-expired contract. In
such a case, the lockout is designed to pressure the workers
into accepting the terms of the company's last offer.
Methods of measurement
Strikes and lockouts
The basic unit of measurement used to record a strike or
lockout is the case of dispute. A strike or lockout that is
interrupted and later resumes, still due to the same case of
dispute, is treated as a new strike or lockout when it resumes.
If work stoppages due to the same case of dispute occur
simultaneously in different establishments of the same
enterprise they are considered to be one strike or lockout.
Similarly, if stoppages, due to the same case of dispute, occur
simultaneously in establishments of different enterprises, they
are treated as one strike or lockout; parameters such as
industry, sector of ownership, result, method of settlement and
affiliation to the central workers' or employers' organization
are also kept in mind when deciding whether the stoppage is a
single strike or lockout. Stoppages due to the same case of
dispute occurring at different times are treated as different
strikes or lockouts.
Workers involved
The number of workers involved is the highest number of
workers involved at any one time during the strike or lockout.
Part-time workers are counted as individuals on the same basis
as full-time workers.
Duration
The duration is measured in workdays from the date the strike
or lockout began in the first economic unit involved to the date
it terminated, uninterrupted, in the last one.

Time not worked

The amount of time not worked is measured in workdays by
ascertaining the total amount of time not worked on each day
of the strike or lockout, and summing these totals. The shorter
working hours of part-time workers are taken into account as
follows: the time normally worked by them is divided by the
length of a full shift, then multiplied by the number of part-
time workers involved to reach an estimate of the number of
days not worked by them, for each day. Overtime is not taken
into account.
 Cause of dispute
o wages and allowances
o bonuses
o personnel (promotion, transfers, dismissals, etc.)
o retrenchment
o layoff
o indiscipline
o violence
o leave and hours of work
o inter- or intra-union rivalry
o gherao
o other reasons related to labour dispute
Outcome of dispute
o successful
o partially successful
o unsuccessful
o indefinite (i.e. work resumed pending negotiation, or
matter in dispute referred to an industrial tribunal)
Method of settlement
o work resumed unconditionally, workers involved having
returned to work
o work resumed by replacement of workers involved
o terminated through direct negotiations between the two
parties including the medium of works or joint committees
o terminated through the medium of a third party, for
example industrial tribunal, industrial court, labour court,
etc.: by mediation, by conciliation or by arbitration
Branch of economic activity
The statistics are classified according to the revised National
Industrial Classification (NIC), 1987. In the case of a general
strike, the strike itself is accounted for in the industry with the
highest number of days not worked, but the other information
such as the number of workers involved, days not worked, etc.
are included in the respective industries involved.

CASE STUDY
Across India, bank employees go on two-day strike on Friday,
August 7th, 2009
Nearly one million bank employees in India, including some
with private and foreign banks, went on a two-day nationwide
strike Thursday demanding higher wages and a better social
security net.The strike has been called by the United Forum of
Bank Unions — an umbrella organisation representing nine
unions of officers and other staff in the banking
industry.According to reports coming in from across the
country, people were able to withdraw money from automated
teller machines (ATMs) even though other services like getting
demand drafts and obtaining cheque books were affected. “No
transactions till Saturday in any public sector bank or
branches,” said K.F. Mamadapur, secretary of one of the
striking unions, the All-India State Bank Officers’ Federation,
in Bangalore.Apart from the staff in all state-run banks, those
with private entities like Catholic Syrian Bank and foreign
ones like HSBC also joined the agitation. But the operations of
some institutions like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Standard
Chartered were unaffected.“Around 10 lakh employees across
all the public sector and private sector banks have gone on
strike,” said Rajen Nagar, national president of another union
— All India Bank Employees’ Association.“We are also
protesting against unnecessary government intervention,
which is delaying our wage settlement,” Nagar told IANS in
Kolkata.The wage revision is due from November 2007.In
Madhya Pradesh, the strike affected commercial activities in
major cities such as Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur.
“Total transaction worth Rs.150,000 crore were affected,”
claimed All India Bank Employees Association general
secretary V.K. Sharma.
In seven northeastern states, more than 30,000 bank employees
took part in the agitation.In Karnataka, about 80,000 employees
of public sector and old private banks across the state,
including 25,000 in the city are on strike. As a result, there were
long queues at ATMs in Bangalore.“People are queuing up in
large numbers at ATMs to withdraw as much money before
they run out of cash. With heavy withdrawals and no
replenishments, most ATMs will turn dry by Thursday night or
early Friday,” Mamadapur said.In Hyderabad, too, there were
long queues outside the ATMs, some of which ran out of cash
in the afternoon and are unlikely to be replenished before
Saturday.
Said Usha Ramakrishnan, who has an account with the State
Bank of India in Delhi: “I was able to withdraw money. But I
will have to go to a private bank — ICICI Bank or something
— to get a pay order. The kind of trouble we used to face
earlier isn’t there now. But it is irritating.”The main demands
of the striking staff are wage increase, a better social security
net to take care of their post-retirement needs and a proper
policy for giving jobs to the family members of deceased or
disabled employees on compassionate grounds.The unions
have been demanding a 20-percent wage hike, and rejected the
offer of 17.5 percent increase made Wednesday by the Indian
Banks’ Association (IBA) that represents the bank
managements.The government had asked the unions to hold
talks with the bank managements and the chief labour
commissioner, but the parleys were inconclusive.“The
association is playing with us. When they agreed to 17.5
percent hike initially, they brought in another clause that the
pension load should be borne equally,” said N.S. Virk, vice
president the All India Bank Officers’ Association. “This is
after they signed a memorandum of understanding,” he said.

Analysis Of Strikes and Lockouts

In 1990, 1,825 strikes and lockouts were recorded. As a result,
24.1 million workdays were lost, from which 10.6 million were
lost to strikes and 13.5 million to lockouts. More than 1.3
million workers were involved in these labor disputes. The
number and seriousness of strikes and lockouts have varied
from year to year. As can be seen from the below chart, there
has been a steep decline in the number of strikes and lockouts.
This continuous decline in strikes and lockouts indicates that
the industrial relations in India are improving. There were 227
strikes in 2005, resulting in the loss of 10.81 million man-days,
while the number of lockouts stood at 229 with a loss of 18.86
million man-days. In January-September 2006, there were only
154 strikes and 192 lockouts across the country, as compared to
the statistics of 2005, which resulted in the time loss of 3.16
million man-days and 10.60 million man-days respectively.
The number of strikes and lockouts, taken together, was down
by 4.4 per cent in 2005. During 2005, West Bengal experienced
the maximum instances of strikes and lockouts (19216)
followed by Kerala (3619) and Rajasthan (19247). Industrial
disturbances were concentrated mainly in manufacturing
(textile), financial intermediation, agriculture and mining and
quarrying industries during 2005.

During 2000, 426 strikes and 325 lockouts were observed which
resulted in total time-loss of 28.76 million mandays. Maximum
time-loss was caused by 297 lockouts during 2003 which
resulted in a time-loss of 27.05 million mandays. As compared
to previous years, in 2006 only 13.76 million mandays were lost
due to strikes and lockouts.
LEGAL BINDING
THE INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947
Title : THE INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES ACT, 1947

Year : 1947

CHAPTER V

STRIKES AND LOCK-OUTS

22. Prohibition of strikes and lock-outs.- (1) No person

employed in a public utility service shall go on strike in breach
of contract--

(a) without giving to the employer notice of strike, as herein-

after provided, within six weeks before striking; or

(b) within fourteen days of giving such notice; or

(c) before the expiry of the date of strike specified in any such
notice as aforesaid; or

(d) during the pendency of any conciliation proceedings before

a conciliation officer and seven days after the conclusion of
such proceedings.

(2) No employer carrying on any public utility service shall

lock-out any of his workmen--

(a) without giving them notice of lock-out as hereinafter

provided, within six weeks before locking out; or
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Subs. by Act 36 of 1956, s. 16, for "or Tribunal" (w.e.f. 10-3-
1957).
2. Subs. by s. 16, ibid., for "Court or Tribunal" (w.e.f. 10-3-
1957).

171.(b) within fourteen days of giving such notice; or

(c) before the expiry of the date of lock-out specified in any

such notice as aforesaid; or

(d) during the pendency of any conciliation proceedings before

a conciliation officer and seven days after the conclusion of
such proceedings.

(3) The notice of lock-out or strike under this section shall not
be necessary where there is already in existence a strike or, as
the case may be, lock-out in the public utility service, but the
employer shall send intimation of such lock-out or strike on
the day on which it is declared, to such authority as may be
specified by the appropriate Government either generally or
for a particular area or for a particular class of public utility
services.

(4) The notice of strike referred to in sub-section (1) shall be

given by such number of persons to such person or persons and
in such manner as may be prescribed.
(5) The notice of lock-out referred to in sub-section (2) shall be
given in such manner as may be prescribed.

(6) If on any day an employer receives from any persons

employed by him any such notices as are referred to in sub-
section (1) or gives to any persons employed by him any such
notices as are referred to in sub-section (2), he shall within five
days thereof report to the appropriate Government or to such
authority as that Government may prescribe the number of
such notices received or given on that day.
23. General prohibition of strikes and lock-outs.- No workman
who is employed in any industrial establishment shall go on
strike in breach of contract and no employer of any such
workman shall declare a lock-out--

(a) during the pendency of conciliation proceedings before a

Board and seven days after the conclusion of such
proceedings;

(b) during the pendency of proceedings before 1*[a Labour

Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal] and two months after the
conclusion of such proceedings; 2***

3*[(bb) during the pendency of arbitration proceedings before

an arbitrator and two months after the conclusion of such
proceedings, where a notification has been issued under sub-
section (3A) of section 10A;
or]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Subs. by Act 36 of 1956, s. 17, for "a Tribunal" (w.e.f. 10-3-
1957).
2. The word "or" omitted by Act 36 of 1964, s. 11 (w.e.f. 19-12-
1964).
3. Ins. by s. 11, ibid. (w.e.f. 19-12-1964).

172.(c) during any period in which a settlement or award is in

operation, in respect of any of the matters covered by the
settlement or award.

24. Illegal strikes and lock-outs.- (1) A strike or a lock-out shall

be illegal if--

(i) it is commenced or declared in contravention of section

22 or section 23; or

(ii) it is continued in contravention of an order made under sub-

section (3) of section 10 1*[or sub-section (4A) of section 10A].

(2) Where a strike or lock-out in pursuance of an industrial

dispute has already commenced and is in existence at the time
of the reference of the dispute to a Board, 1*[an arbitrator, a]
2*[Labour
Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal], the continuance of such
strike or lock-out shall not be deemed to be illegal, provided
that such strike or lock-out was not at its commencement in
contravention of the provisions of this Act or the continuance
thereof was not prohibited under sub-section (3) of section 10
1*[or sub-section (4A) of section
10A].

(3) A lock-out 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.

25. Prohibition of financial aid to illegal strikes and lock-

outs.- No person shall knowingly expend or apply any money
in direct furtherance of support of any illegal strike or lock-out.