Can I just say: as an American in the SF Bay Area... this article is extremely <i>foreign</i> to me. I don't mean the location or work, but the entire social-political background.<p>Layoffs have some contractual basis for being paid, and even more, a social expectation that it will be fulfilled...! There's some <i>social</i> contract around labor?!? (I've been at companies that went bust, got diddly-squat). The police and <i>political parties' representatives</i> are present during the labor standoff, but not to resolve it.<p>I'm not saying it's better or worse... partly it feels better: support for workers; partly it feels worse (is it just me, or does the presence of the police and politicians seem... odd, corrupt? perhaps this is just my cultural myopia)... but the entire scene is just really hard for me to parse. And I upvoted because this is absolutely fascinating to me; I want to hear more from an Indian perspective. (For the record, I've been only once, for a few weeks for a friend's wedding, so don't know anything about the situation but would love to learn more.)