According to the legal interpretation, a lockout is generally defined as an employer’s withholding of work and closing of a business because of a labour dispute. The term is very literal: you're locked out.
A strike is the opposite. When an employer and and a union reach a deadlock, a strike sometimes occurs, whereby the union members withhold their skills and abilities and do not work until some agreement is reached.
A lockout is the option the employer has in dealing with the employee representatives with the intent to put pressure on the employees’ union: if the union members are locked out and can't work, then they aren't being paid, either.
If you consider yourself to be a sports fan, especially a hockey fan, you're probably getting sick of the term "lockout."If you consider yourself to be a sports fan, especially a hockey fan, you're probably getting sick of the term "lockout." The term has been used in the NFL and the NBA over the last year or so, as well, as these two leagues recently went through their Collective Agreement negotiations process. For the NHL, though, this is their second lockout in the past 7 years.
The use of either a lockout or a strike is intended to force the other party to reach an agreement/renewal of the Collective Agreement. Whatever the case, whether employees choose to strike or the employers choose a lockout, there is a work stoppage.
The ultimate cost of such an action remains to be seen when the product or service is offered once again. Will the consumer return? I guess we will have to wait to see if consumers of professional hockey will return, or if they've had enough and will take their entertainment dollar elsewhere.
