• Offensive lockouts were illegal before the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the legal distinction between offensive and defensive lockouts in favor of a balancing test. American Ship Bldg. Co. v. NLRB, 380 U.S. 300, 85 S.Ct. 955 (1965).
offensive lockout
A lockout called by management to assert economic pressure on workers and thereby gain a bargaining advantage over a union.