Doubling of days lost to strikes
Latest official figures show that the number of working days lost to industrial action has doubled since 2003.
The Office of National Statistics found that 904,000 working days were taken up by strike action in 2004, compared to the previous years figure of 499,000.
Figures were boosted by November’s huge walkout of civil servants when over 200,000 workers protested against Government plans job cuts.
Although the amount of workers involved in disputes has risen, the number of stoppages due to strikes actually fell.
Scotland and Northern Ireland suffered the highest number of lost days per 1000 employee jobs while the southwest and eastern regions were relatively unaffected.
Just under half (48 per cent) of the days lost in 2004 were in public administration with a further 42 per cent lost in education.
Almost half (48 per cent) of the working days lost in 2004 were in public administration, 42 per cent were lost in education and a further 5 per cent were in transport, storage and communication.
Disputes about pay was the major cause of strikes, with redundancy the next most common cause, with disputes over working conditions or disciplinary measures was down the list.
