Lockout Law in Australia: Into the Mainstream?

By Chris Briggs

Lockouts have resurfaced in a series of disputes since the shift to enterprise bargaining, rising sharply as strikes have fallen to historic lows.

A lockout occurs when an employer temporarily withdraws paid work for its employees, refusing to allow their employees to enter the workplace to exert economic pressure on them to yield in a labour dispute. Lockouts were once regarded as historical curios of an era long-gone, found only in the late 19th century when unions were struggling to establish themselves or the crisis years of the Great Depression.

In the second half-decade of enterprise bargaining (1998-2003), lockouts accounted for just under one-tenth of working days lost to disputes and over half of the 'long' disputes (longer than a month) - which is especially significant because the economic, social and personal fall-out from long disputes can be irreparable. Employers, not unions, are now responsible for most of the long-running disputes in Australia.

How lockouts should be legally treated is a small but important question.

Lockouts are by their nature relatively infrequent but the way in which they are legally regulated influences matters which are central to the functioning of labour law and employment relations - the ability of employees to freely

associate, bargain collectively and take strike action to pursue their interests in disputes with their employers. Should employers be allowed to utilise lockouts or does their existence undermine the ability of employees to use

industrial action to equalise bargaining power and therefore bargain effectively? If employers are allowed to use lockouts, under what circumstances should they be able to use lockouts?

(ACIRRT Working Paper no 95)