STRIKE ACTION PLUMMETS
Industrial action has fallen from a record high to a record low in just six years
FEWER workers than ever went on strike last year, new figures have revealed. Some 33,000 employees took strike action across the UK in 2017 - the lowest since records began in 1891.
That’s according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
The number was at its highest as recently as 2011, when 1.5 million people downed tools.
While the number of strikers was at a record low in 2017, they still caused considerable disruption.
In total, 276,000 working days were lost to strikes.
It means on average, each striking employee refused to work for eight days.
That’s the highest rate of days lost per worker since 1984, when 1.5 million people took strike action, resulting in 27 million days lost - or 19 days per striking worker.
That was the year of the miners’ strike which came after the announcement that 20 coal pits were to close with the loss of 20,000 jobs.
A total of 67 strikes were recorded in 2017, including the first ever from employees of fast food chain McDonald’s.
The majority of working days lost to strike action last year were because of wage disputes (204,880 working days). Those in the transport industry accounted for more than two-thirds of these. A further 35,300 working days were lost to strikes over manning and working allocation. Some 22,500 working days saw strike action because of questions over redundancy. There were 11,700 days lost because of disputes over working conditions, while 100 days each were lost because of patterns of hours worked and disciplinary measures. A spokesperson from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “The figures highlight the effectiveness of the government’s work to clamp down on undemocratic strike action.
“Our action has prevented thousands of people from having their lives unfairly disrupted with an expected saving to the economy of around £10 million a year.”
Hannah Reed, employment rights officer for the Trades Union Congress, said: “The government’s draconian trade union act restricts workers’ ability to defend their jobs, pay and working conditions.
“This is especially the case in the public sector where union members face more barriers to call a strike. “Making it harder for people to go on strike is not good for industrial relations. Unresolved disputes increase workforce tensions, as well as damaging morale and productivity. Strikes are always a last resort for union members, but it’s clear that many workers are fed up of years of paltry pay rises. “As high-profile action at companies like McDonald’s have shown, unions will always stand up to bad employers.”