Days lost to disputes falling

Scenes like this are becoming far less common

The number of days lost to strike action in the UK last year was the second lowest on record.

An estimated 242,000 working days were lost to industrial disputes in 1999, compared to 235,000 the previous year - the lowest yet.

The Office for National Statistics has also confirmed that there were 205 separate stoppages in 1999, also the second lowest on record compared to 166 in 1998.

UK strike facts

205 work stoppages in 1999

242,000 working days lost in 1999

Most days lost:
Scotland and London

Least days lost:
East Midlands and West Midlands

Pay the main contention

This trend compares with the 1970s, when the number of days lost through disputes peaked at 29.4m during the so-called "winter of discontent" of 1979.

The average number of working days lost each year in the 1990s was 660,000 compared to 7.2m in the 1980s and 12.9m in the 1970s.

The miners' strike year of 1984 saw 27m working days lost in 1,221 disputes.

Last year's disputes involved 141,000 workers, mostly in transport-related industries.

The latest statistics show that the number of stoppages has dropped sharply since the eighties, when the average annual number was 1,129.

Regional disparities

Scotland and London recorded the most working days lost per 1,000 workers last year while the East Midlands and West Midlands showed the lowest rate.

Disputes over pay accounted for over one-third of last year's working days lost, with working conditions, redundancies and office hours other contentious issues.

Just over half of all stoppages in 1999 lasted for less than one day, with around six per cent leading to over 50 working days being lost.

Twelve stoppages involved the loss of over 5,000 working days in 1999.

An estimated 39,000 million hours were worked last year in the UK, with strikes accounting for 1.9m hours.

No stoppage in the last three years has led to the loss of 100,000 working days or more - that compares to 15 in 1979.