FIGURES FROM the Office of National Statistics reveal that the number of days lost to strikes since 1997 has grown steadily every year; rising from 235,000 days lost in 1997 to 1,323,000 lost in 2002.
Also, nearly a million workers were involved in some form of strike action last year.
While things have not developed quite as rapidly in the first half of 2003, with 200,000 days lost in strike action – remembering that many of the proposed firefighters’ strike days were called off.
But the second half of 2003 has again shown a marked increase in days lost, with the British Airways dispute and more industrial action by UNISON members over their London weighting allowance.
This has nearly doubled the number of days lost in strikes in the traditionally quiet months of August and September.
If the postal workers take strike action, in only seven days of action the days lost will add up to over a million.
This could mark a significant doubling of the days lost in strike action, following the trend seen every year since 1998.
