Basic Definitions:

Collective Bargaining:
The act of negotiating contract terms between an employer and the members of a union.

Crossover Worker:
Individual members of a union do not have to honor the strike. They may; choose not to
strike, or Return to work after joining the strikers for a time.

Replacement Workers:
Workers who are hired to take the place of striking workers. They can be hired on either a
temporary or permanent basis. If replacement workers are given permanent status, they do not
have to be dismissed when the strike is over.

Employer Lockout:
Act of the employer to prevent employees from entering the work premises when the
employer reasonably anticipates a strike.

Picketing:

The actions of strikers walking in front of the employer’s premises carrying signs announcing
their strike.

Strike:

A work stoppage undertaken in support of a bargaining position or in protest of some aspect

of a previous agreement or proposed agreement between labor and management.

Layoff:

The temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or (more

commonly) a group of employees for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no
longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs.

Lockout:
A lockout is a work stoppage in which an employer prevents employees from working.
This is different from a strike, in which employees refuse to work.

Retrenchment:
Forced lay-off of employees by a firm, usually to cut down its expenses.

Prepared by A Sanjeev Raj