Q.(a) What is the difference between a strike and a lockout ? Discuss the famous strike of Bombay Textile Mills of 1982.

Labor Dispute Types

Think of a workplace as a small society. In any society, disagreements happen. A labor dispute is simply a disagreement between employers and employees (or between groups of employees themselves) that arises out of the employment relationship. It is the friction point where interests clash — over wages, working conditions, promotions, or even the interpretation of a contract.

The key to understanding labor disputes is to know who is fighting whom, and what the fight is about. That gives us two main ways to classify them.

Classification by the Parties Involved

This is the most intuitive way. It asks: on which sides are the opposing parties standing?

• Individual Dispute: One employee versus the employer. Example: An employee claims she was unfairly denied a promised bonus. The dispute involves only that single worker and the management.
• Collective Dispute: A group of employees (usually represented by a trade union) versus the employer. Example: The union demands a 10% wage hike for all factory workers, and the company refuses. The dispute involves the entire workforce or a substantial section of it.

Classification by the Nature of the Dispute

This classification digs deeper into what the disagreement is actually about. It is the more analytical way to look at things.

1. Interest Disputes

An interest dispute is about creating new rights or changing existing ones. It arises when one side wants something that is not currently in the contract or the law. The word "interest" here means a future claim — a demand for something new.

• Example: Workers demand a 5-day workweek when the current agreement says 6 days. There is no existing right to a 5-day week; they are trying to create one.
• Why it matters: These disputes are typically resolved through collective bargaining, mediation, or arbitration. If no agreement is reached, a strike or lockout may follow.

2. Rights Disputes

A rights dispute is about interpreting or applying an existing right. It arises when one side believes the other has violated a term of the employment contract, a law, or a collective bargaining agreement. The right already exists on paper; the fight is over whether it was respected.

• Example: The contract says overtime is paid at double the normal rate. The company pays only 1.5 times. The worker claims a violation of an existing right.
• Why it matters: These disputes are usually settled through grievance procedures, labor courts, or tribunals. Strikes over rights disputes are often considered illegal in many jurisdictions because the proper channel is legal recourse, not industrial action. …

Home Based Work: A First Look

Think about the work you see happening around you every day. A tailor stitching clothes in a small room attached to their house. A woman rolling papads in her kitchen to sell to a local shop. A family assembling electronic components at a dining table. This is home based work — and it is one of the oldest, most widespread, and most invisible forms of employment in India.

The Everyday Intuition

You already understand the core idea without knowing the term. Home based work is simply any paid work that a person does from their own home, rather than going to a factory, office, or shop. The home becomes the workplace. The kitchen table becomes the production line. The verandah becomes the packaging unit.

But here is where it gets interesting — and where the definition becomes precise.

The Precise Meaning

In the context of Indian labour studies and policy (including the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act and ILO conventions), home based work has a specific, three-part definition:

Three elements matter here:

• Location: The work happens at home, not at the employer's factory or office. This is the defining feature.
• Payment: It is not unpaid domestic labour or household chores. The person receives wages or piece-rate payment for what they produce.
• Employer relationship: The worker does not sell their own product independently. They work on order from someone else — a contractor, a middleman, a company — who specifies what to make and often supplies the raw materials.

This last point is crucial. A woman who makes pickles and sells them at the local market is a self-employed entrepreneur. A woman who makes pickles at home for a brand that gives her the spices, bottles, and labels, and pays her per jar — she is a home based worker.

Why This Distinction Matters

Home based work sits at the intersection of several important realities:

It is part of the informal economy. Most home based workers have no written contract, no paid leave, no pension, no job security. They are invisible in official employment statistics because they do not "go to work."

It is overwhelmingly done by women. Cultural norms, household responsibilities, and lack of safe transport push women into work they can do from home. This makes home based work a gendered issue — it provides income but often at the cost of low wages, isolation, and no career progression.

It is a global phenomenon, but especially significant in India. From garment stitching in Delhi to bidi rolling in West Bengal, from agarbatti making in Tamil Nadu to embroidery in Lucknow — millions of households depend on this work.

A Few Key Points to Remember …