asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish a table of figures showing the total number of strikes, days lost through industrial disputes, the number of workers involved, and the causes of these disputes in each of the first 11 months of 1976 and 1977.
Provisional estimates of the number of stoppages of work due
| STOPPAGES OF WORK DUE TO INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES IN THE FIRST 10 MONTHS OF 1976 AND 1977 | |||||||
| Stoppages in progress | |||||||
| Number of stoppages beginning in the month | Number of workers involved | Number of working days lost | |||||
| 1976 | 1977 | 1976 | 1977 | 1976 | 1977 | ||
| January | … | 166 | 229 | 80,000 | 96,000 | 324,000 | 435,000 |
| February | … | 154 | 260 | 69,000 | 148,000 | 240,000 | 770,000 |
| March | … | 203 | 266 | 74,000 | 142,000 | 304,000 | 1,046,000 |
| April | … | 157 | 196 | 68,000 | 86,000 | 298,000 | 620,000 |
| May | … | 156 | 242 | 49,000 | 101,000 | 200,000 | 680,000 |
| June | … | 175 | 172 | 56,000 | 93,000 | 224,000 | 517,000 |
| July | … | 162 | 151 | 57,000 | 55,000 | 219,000 | 304,000 |
| August | … | 172 | 293 | 78,000 | 118,000 | 321,000 | 852,000 |
| September | 179 | 248 | 94,000 | 162,000 | 385,000 | 1,240,000 | |
| October | … | 190 | 252 | 59,000 | 157,000 | 254,000 | 950,000 |
| The figures for 1977 are provisional and subject to revision, normally upwards. | |||||||
| ANALYSIS OF STOPPAGES BY CAUSE | |||||||||
| Beginning in the first 10 months of 1977 | Beginning in the 12 months of 1976 | ||||||||
| Number of stoppages | Number of workers directly involved | Number of stoppages | Number workers directly innvolved | ||||||
| Pay— | |||||||||
| (1) wage-rates and earnings levels | … | 1,191 | 274,700 | 791 | 170,400 | ||||
| (2) extra-wage and fringe benefits | … | 125 | 122,500 | 84 | 30,900 | ||||
| Duration and pattern of hours worked | … | 40 | 4,300 | 66 | 7,700 | ||||
| Redundancy questions | … | … | … | 69 | 18,500 | 86 | 17,900 | ||
| Trade union matters | … | … | … | 176 | 22,800 | 166 | 36,100 | ||
| Working conditions and supervision | … | 211 | 36,700 | 215 | 41,300 | ||||
| Manning and work allocation | … | … | 298 | 50,000 | 398 | 78,200 | |||
| Dismissal and other disciplinary measures | 199 | 44,300 | 210 | 62,700 | |||||
| Miscellaneous | … | … | … | … | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | … | … | … | … | … | 2,309 | 573,600 | 2,016 | 445,200 |
| The figures for 1977 are provisional and subject to revision normally upwards. | |||||||||
asked the Secretary of State for Employment, in the light of
to industrial disputes, the number of workers involved and the number of working days lost for each of the first 10 months of 1977 and also the final figures for the same months in 1976 are given below.
Comparable figures for November 1977 will be published in due course in the Department of Employment Gazette.
An analysis by cause of the total for the first 10 months of 1977, showing the provisional numbers of stoppages and workers directly involved is also given, together with a similar analysis of the final figures for the whole of 1976.
Provisional figures analysed by cause for the individual months of 1977 are not available as amendments received belatedly are only taken into account in the cumulative total for all months in the year to date. Likewise, only annual figures are available for 1976.
the fact that there have been about three times more strikes in 1977, than 1976, to what extent these disputes were caused by objections to the Government's various wages and incomes policies; and to what extent the 7,415,000 working days lost in the first 10 months of 1977 due to industrial disputes can be costed.
The provisional estimate of the number of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes in the first 10 months of 1977 was 2,309 representing an increase of 34·7 per cent. compared with the equivalent period in 1976. The number of working days lost in these disputes increased by rather less than threefold.The analyses by cause distinguish disputes over pay but not whether they are in opposition to particular policies.In the first 10 months of 1977, the number of stoppages attributed to disputes over pay was 1,316, representing 57 per cent. of the total of 2,309. This compares with 875, or 43 per cent. of the total of 2,016 in the whole of 1976.It would be impracticable to evaluate the cost of stoppages having regard to the many variable elements involved.