In 1945-46 economic conditions were severe and food was in short supply. Many companies shut down production or laid off workers who desperately needed their jobs. But at the same time, workers felt newly empowered to demand better working conditions and status. The result was a steady rise in labor strikes and slowdowns. When negotiations with management failed, the workers in some factories engaged in “production control” (seisan kanri) by locking out the managers and running the factories by themselves. Production control spread to over 200 mines, factories, railways, and even government offices in the first half of 1946. Click on CHARTS, below, for more information about labor disputes in 1946 and 1947.