Oct. 12, 2012 | Let's be clear about what a lockout is: It's the opposite of a strike. The employer withholds work in order to gain concessions from workers. Lockouts are growing in frequency. Sotheby's auction house locked out its [Teamster] art handlers. Cooper Tire did the same to its workers….Lockouts have not been very common in the past, because usually businesses would prefer to keep operating and getting the value of workers' labor. But in the current economic climate, even profitable enterprises are seeking to wrangle a few extra dollars out of workers. Full story here.