Question

What is the difference between a strike and the major manufacturing process carried out in a lockout? Discuss the famous strike of Bombay Textile Mills of 1982.

Answer 1

A strike is when employees refuse to report to work, whereas a lockout is when management closes the doors to the building and forbids employees from reporting to work. Dr. Datta Samant, a trade union leader, led the 1982 Bombay strike, which had as its objectives better pay and the ability to form a union. Contrarily, the BIRA could only approve it if it completely abandoned the concept of strikes. The workers' demands were ignored by the government, and workers sent by the RMMS also broke up the strike. Workers gradually started returning to work after two years without pay. One lakh workers lost their jobs as a result, and others took up temporary work. Some people even relocated to work at power looms because the mills had not been updated. The current situation depicts a struggle between the mill's owners and employees. Who will decide the mill's future or whether it will be successfully sold off to real estate brokers are still up in the air.