The UK recorded the highest number of working days lost to labour disputes in October for more than ten years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Tuesday, as rail workers began the first day of eight on strike action within the next four weeks.
There were 417,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in October 2022, which is the highest since November 2011, when almost a million days were lost during a huge strike over cuts to public sector pensions brought in under David Cameron and George Osborne’s austerity polices.
Union estimates forecast more than 1m working days will be lost in December, making it the worst month for disruption since July 1989.
The ONS stopped collecting the strikes data during coronavirus lockdowns, as it focused its resources elsewhere. In recent months, however, the need for the data has grown more pressing.
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