In the private sector, if a company and its union have not reached agreement when the contract expires, common practice is to extend the old contract while negotiations continue.

But what if the company is determined to increase profits by busting the union and eliminating workers' rights on the job?

It resorts to a lockout - it shuts the company's doors and prevent the workers from doing their jobs or getting paid.

That's exactly what the US Republicans, led by the Tea Party caucus, have done - not only to 800,000 government workers but to the US people.

The immediate issue in the government shutdown is Obamacare, which the president launched last week in the teeth of the goverment shutdown.

Republicans are reflexively opposed to anything that provides more economic security for the working class and they are politically fearful that Obamacare will actually work and provide a political boost to Democrats in future elections.

But the issues go far beyond Obamacare.

Since Barack Obama took office in 2009, and especially since the Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives in 2010, the federal government has been hamstrung by repeated crises over spending.

The media portrays the problem in generic terms like "dysfunctional government" or "congressional gridlock."

But in the labour movement and among progressive organisations far more accurate descriptions are increasingly being heard - "hostage-taking," "class war" and even "treason."

The US trade union federation, the AFL-CIO, expresses this clearly on its blog.

"The billionaires are afraid if the government does its job, they will be taxed. So they want to force the government not to do its job.

"That means first they are happy to close the government entirely if President Obama won't agree to pull back on the his commitment that all of America's working families should have real health insurance. But the billionaires' demands don't stop there.

"They want to end food stamps and let the poor starve.

"They want to cut social security and Medicare, stop the government from regulating Wall Street and - surprise surprise - lower their own taxes."

In short, the shutdown stops the government from putting limits on the power of the corporate elite to plunder and pollute the US and the world at the expense of the working people.

The Republican Party and the Tea Party represent the overall interests of big business - low taxes, no restrictions on companies' activity, no workers' rights, a weak labour movement and a large supply of unemployed and underemployed workers with no safety net and grateful for the chance for any job, at any pay, with any working conditions.

But it appears that the less fanatical sections of Wall Street are worried about both the political and economic consequences of the current deadlock, especially regarding the debt limit.

Since WWI Congress has imposed a limit on the debt the government is allowed to accumulate.

After that, the government can only spend money as fast as it comes in - ie government tax revenue will pay most of the bills, but not all, and payments could start to be late.

Many commentators, including business leaders, view this as more serious than the government shutdown.

The administration has a number of options. There are accounting measures it can take to move money around and pay bills without formally breaking the debt limit. There are ways of, in effect, printing money to avoid borrowing.

And there are good constitutional arguments for ignoring the debt ceiling and continuing to pay all the bills that are due.

The concern of many business leaders - and the rest of us - is that if the US does not pay its bills on time, including making payments on past loans, it could weaken global confidence in the dollar and provoke a new financial crisis - a new recession and massive loss of jobs.

There is no guarantee that the shutdown will be brief. Union members who have experienced employers' lockouts know that victory goes to the side that can last one day longer.

And for the workers to last longer, they must be kept informed, support one another, reach out to other workers and their community and actively participate in the struggle.

The Republicans and their media are trying, with some success, to capitalise on confusion about Obamacare and widespread cynicism about government to demotivate the public. As a result some people are blaming Obama for the shutdown.

Overcoming this requires clarity on the class struggle issues which are at the root of the crisis.

There has been an immediate response from the AFL-CIO and dozens of other organisations thanking the president for standing firm on Obamacare and calling for the public to apply pressure through demonstrations, phone calls to Congress and other actions.

We need to get millions out on the streets demanding not only no concessions to the hostage-takers but that Congress go on the offensive for people's needs.

The stakes are high. The intensified class war being waged against working people has led to resistance and growth of class consciousness, seen the growth of groups such as the Occupy movement, adult learning campaign MoveOn, the growing strength of the immigrant rights movement, the national outrage over Trayvon Martin's killing and the recent AFL-CIO convention which raised to a new level the leadership and collaboration of the nation's unions with other progressive forces.

At the same time, sections of the corporate elite have responded by founding and funding the Tea Party and a host of media and front organisations to create fear, confusion and division among the 99 per cent.

They appeal to the economic security, as well as the desire for stability and order, recruiting small business, professionals, managers and some ordinary workers.

The ultra-right, including Tea Party-ers, ultra-right militia and other groups, fan the fears and recruit a following based on the chaos they themselves create.

The voter suppression, anti-immigrant, racist, stand-your-ground, anti-women, anti-poor, anti-worker, anti-environment laws and policies being enacted in states under Tea Party control are only the beginning of what might see if we the current situation of instability continues unchallenged.

The only antidote is grass-roots education and organising and getting our coworkers, neighbours, families and congregations involved in actions - demonstrations, letter-writing, phone calling and elections - to end the shutdown, reject the hostage-takers and move forward with a pro-people progressive agenda.

This is an edited version of an article that appeared at Peoplesworld.org.