Which side on your own?

There's been a discussion at Span's about the difference between a strike and a lock-out. John Campbell asked Laila Harre the same question on Monday - why is it worse now that the company has locked-out workers than when the workers were on strike.

I don't think you can answer that question if you think that relationships between bosses and workers are neutral matters. If you think that it's possible to stand outside an industrial struggle and weigh up the merits of each side as if you are God, then I guess you'd see a strike and a lock-out as essentially the same things.

I don't think it works like that - I think you have to choose sides. I think there's a difference between a strike and a lock-out because I am on the workers side - and a lock-out is a companies attempt to starve the workers out. I care about people trying to feed their kids, I don't care about shareholders getting a smaller dividend.

I don't understand how anyone could think any differently (unless they were one of the shareholders - in which case they've chosen their side as well).