Tell us whether you accept cookies We would like to use cookies to collect information about how you use ons.gov.uk. We use this information to make the website work as well as possible and improve our services. (BUTTON) Accept all cookies Set cookie preferences You’ve accepted all cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. (BUTTON) Hide IFRAME: https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-MBCBVQS Skip to main content /employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/workplacedisputesandworkingcond itions/articles/labourdisputes/2018 Office for National Statistics logo - Homepage English (EN) | Cymraeg (CY) * Release calendar * Methodology * Media * About * Blog * Menu * Search * Home * Business, industry and trade + Business + Changes to business + Construction industry + IT and internet industry + International trade + Manufacturing and production industry + Retail industry + Tourism industry * Economy + Economic output and productivity + Environmental accounts + Government, public sector and taxes + Gross Domestic Product (GDP) + Gross Value Added (GVA) + Inflation and price indices + Investments, pensions and trusts + National accounts + Regional accounts * Employment and labour market + People in work + People not in work * People, population and community + Births, deaths and marriages + Crime and justice + Cultural identity + Education and childcare + Elections + Health and social care + Household characteristics + Housing + Leisure and tourism + Personal and household finances + Population and migration + Well-being * Taking part in a survey? * English (EN) | Cymraeg (CY) Search for a keyword(s) or time series ID ____________________ (BUTTON) Search 1. Home 2. Employment and labour market 3. People in work 4. Workplace disputes and working conditions 5. Labour disputes in the UK Labour disputes in the UK: 2018 Analysis of UK labour disputes in 2018, including working days lost, stoppages and workers involved. This is the latest release. View previous releases Notice 3 April 2020 The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents a significant challenge to the UK. We are working to ensure that the UK has the vital information needed to respond to the impact of this pandemic on our economy and society. The effects of the pandemic on ONS capacity and capability during this period means we have reviewed the existing labour market releases. As a result data collection and publication of labour disputes will cease for the foreseeable future. This action will protect the delivery and quality of our remaining outputs as well as ensuring we can respond to new demands as a direct result of COVID-19. More details about the impact on labour market outputs can be found in our statement. This is an accredited National Statistic. Click for information about types of official statistics. Contact: Richard Clegg Release date: 17 May 2019 Next release: To be announced Table of contents 1. Main points for 2018 2. Annual changes 3. Historical context 4. Industrial analyses 5. Regional analysis 6. Cause of disputes 7. Disputes by duration 8. Disputes by size 9. Disputes by public and private sector 10. Quality and methodology 11. Technical note Print this Article Download as PDF View all data used in this Article 1. Main points for 2018 * There were 273,000 working days lost due to labour disputes, the sixth-lowest annual total since records began in 1891. * The education sector accounted for 66% of all working days lost, due mainly to disputes involving employees of universities. * The number of working days lost in the public sector (26,000) was the lowest since records for public sector strikes began in 1996. * There were 39,000 workers involved in labour disputes, the second-lowest figure since records for workers involved began in 1893. * There were 81 stoppages, the second-lowest figure since records for stoppages began in 1930. Back to table of contents 2. Annual changes A comparison of labour disputes in 2017 and 2018 is shown in Table 1. There are three core components to the figures: the number of working days lost through stoppages, the number of workers involved in those stoppages and the number of stoppages themselves. See Section 11 of this article for more details on these definitions. CAPTION: Table 1 : Number of working days lost (WDL), workers involved and stoppages, UK, 2017 and 2018 in progress in year 2017 2018 Working days lost through stoppages: 276,000 273,000 Workers involved in stoppages: 33,000 39,000 Stoppages: 79 81 Mean number of WDL per stoppage 3,499 3,367 Median number of WDL per stoppage 345 400 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes 1. Workers in progress figures also include workers who did not strike initially but who joined at a later date. 2. WDL equals working days lost. Download this table Table 1 : Number of working days lost (WDL), workers involved and stoppages, UK, 2017 and 2018 in progress in year .xls .csv Information on earlier years is available in Dataset Table 1: labour disputes annual estimates, 1891 to 2018. Figure 1: The median number of working days lost per stoppage has increased for the last five years Median working days lost per stoppage, UK, 2010 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 1: The median number of working days lost per stoppage has increased for the last five years Image .csv .xls Figure 2: The mean number of working days lost per stoppage has been broadly flat for the last three years Mean working days lost per stoppage, UK, 2010 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 2: The mean number of working days lost per stoppage has been broadly flat for the last three years Image .csv .xls The mean number of working days lost per stoppage was slightly lower in 2018 than in 2017 but the median number was higher. The mean value is generally much higher than the median, because working days lost can be greatly affected by large one-off strikes. For this reason, the median tends to give a more typical measure of the average number of working days lost per stoppage. Back to table of contents 3. Historical context As shown in Figure 3, the amount of industrial action has significantly reduced since the early 1990s. This is a stark contrast to the level of action seen when the miners went on strike in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1910s and 1920s saw even greater levels of industrial action culminating in the general strike of 1926. Figure 3: The highest number of working days lost in the UK was in 1926, the year of the general strike Working days lost, UK, 1891 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. 1898 – Welsh coal strike. 2. 1912 – National coal strike. 3. 1919 – Battle of George Square. Dispute over hours in a working week involving the shipbuilding and engineering trades. 4. 1921 – Black Friday. 5. 1926 – General Strike. Lasted nine days. Over 1.5 million coal miners, dockworkers, iron workers, printers, railwaymen, steelworkers and other transport workers joined the strike. 6. 1972 – UK miners' strike. 7. 1979 – Winter of discontent. 8. 1984 to 1985 – UK miners' strike. Download this chart Figure 3: The highest number of working days lost in the UK was in 1926, the year of the general strike Image .csv .xls The highest annual total for working days lost on record was 162.2 million in 1926, the year of the general strike. Since 1926, there have only been three years when the annual total of working days lost has exceeded 20 million: * 23.9 million in 1972, due mainly to a strike by coal miners * 29.5 million in 1979, due mainly to the so-called “winter of discontent” (a number of strikes in the public sector in the winter of 1978 to 1979) * 27.1 million in 1984, due mainly to a strike by coal miners Since 2000, the highest annual total of working days lost was 1.4 million in 2011, due mainly to two large public sector strikes. Table 2 presents labour disputes figures for the period 1999 to 2018. Of the 273,000 working days lost in 2018, 61% came from a single stoppage involving university employees. The next-largest stoppage in 2018, in terms of working days lost, accounted for only 7% of the total. CAPTION: Table 2: Number of working days lost and stoppages, UK, 1999 to 2018 Year Working days lost (thousands) Working days lost per 1,000 employees 2 Workers involved (thousands) Stoppages 3 Stoppages involving the loss of 100,000 working days or more 1999 242 9 141 205 - 2000 499 19 183 212 1 2001 525 20 180 194 1 2002 1,323 49 943 146 2 2003 499 18 151 133 - 2004 905 33 293 130 3 2005 157 6 93 116 - 2006 755 27 713 158 1 2007 1,039 37 745 142 4 2008 759 27 511 144 2 2009 455 16 209 98 1 2010 365 13 133 92 1 2011 1,390 51 1,530 149 3 2012 249 9 237 131 1 2013 444 16 395 114 2 2014 788 27 733 155 2 2015 170 6 81 106 - 2016 322 11 154 101 1 2017 276 9 33 79 1 2018 273 9 39 81 1 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes 1. Cells containing a hyphen (-) represent zero. 2. Based on the estimates of employee jobs from Workforce Jobs (ONS). 3. Stoppages in progress during year. Prior to 2015 a dispute was counted as a new stoppage if there was a gap of more than one month between instances of industrial action. From 2015 disputes with a gap of more than one month between instances of industrial action are counted as a single stoppage. Download this table Table 2: Number of working days lost and stoppages, UK, 1999 to 2018 .xls .csv The second column of Table 2 shows working days lost per 1,000 employee jobs for each year from 1999 to 2018. This enables comparisons to be made adjusting for employment changes over time. The 273,000 working days lost in 2018 is equivalent to nine working days lost per 1,000 employees, which is lower than the average over the last 20 years. Figure 4: The highest number of working days lost in the past 20 years was 1.39 million in 2011 Working days lost, UK, 1999 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 4: The highest number of working days lost in the past 20 years was 1.39 million in 2011 Image .csv .xls Figure 5: The highest number of stoppages in the past 20 years was 212 in 2000 Stoppages, UK, 1999 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 5: The highest number of stoppages in the past 20 years was 212 in 2000 Image .csv .xls Figures 4 and 5 illustrate working days lost and the number of stoppages respectively for the last 20 years. They show that there are a number of spikes in the time series in years when a particularly large strike took place, showing the impact individual strikes can have on the statistics. The high number of days lost in 2011, for example, was due to two large public sector strikes, while the 2002 figure was due to one very large stoppage in the transport and storage industry. As shown in Figure 5, there has generally been a decline in the number of strikes since 1999. Though volatile, the number of working days lost has remained broadly the same over this period. This shows that although the number of stoppages has fallen, large-scale stoppages have become more common. A longer time series showing stoppages and working days lost can be found within Dataset Table 1. Back to table of contents 4. Industrial analyses Table 3 shows labour disputes statistics for 2018 broken down into 13 industry groups, classified according to the Standard Industrial Classification 2007: SIC 2007. The largest sector, in terms of working days lost and workers involved was education, which accounted for: * 66% of all working days lost (179,000 out of a total of 273,000) * 52% of all workers involved (20,000 out of a total of 39,000) * 21% of all strikes (17 out of 81) While the education sector accounted for most of the working days lost and workers involved in 2018, the sector showing the largest number of stoppages was transport and storage (25 out of 81). The strikes in this sector mainly occurred within public transport. CAPTION: Table 3: Number of working days lost and stoppages by industry, UK, 2018 Industry group (SIC 2007) SIC class Working days lost (thousands) Working days lost per 1,000 employees Workers involved (thouands) Stoppages ³ All industries and services 272.7 9 39.2 81 Agriculture forestry and fishing 01,02,03 - - - - Mining, quarrying and Electricity, gas, air conditioning 5 to 9, 35 0.1 1 - 1 Manufacturing 10 to 33 3.0 1 0.6 5 Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities and Water Supply 36 to 39 4.6 21 0.9 4 Construction 41 to 43 5.8 4 0.8 3 Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, and Accommodation and Food Services 45 to 47, 55 to 56 0.9 - 0.3 6 Transport and storage 49 to 53 42.6 30 4.9 25 Information and Communication 58 to 63 10.6 8 0.5 2 Financial and Insurance, Real estate, Professional, Scientific, Technical and Admin Activities 64 to 82 4.0 1 0.7 5 Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 84 15.9 12 8.8 4 Education 85 179.4 67 20.3 17 Human Health and social work 86 to 88 4.9 1 1.2 6 Other 90 to 99 0.8 1 0.1 3 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes 1. The figures for working days lost and workers have been rounded and consequently the sums of constituent items may not agree precisely with the totals. 2. Some stoppages involved workers in more than one of the above industry groups, but have each been counted as only one stoppage in the totals for all industries and services. Cells containing a hyphen (-) represent a zero or less than 50. 3. Stoppages in progress during year. Download this table Table 3: Number of working days lost and stoppages by industry, UK, 2018 .xls .csv Figure 6: In 2018, the highest number of working days lost per 1,000 employees was in the education sector Working days lost per 1,000 employees for selected industries, UK, 2009 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 6: In 2018, the highest number of working days lost per 1,000 employees was in the education sector Image .csv .xls As shown in Figure 6, the highest number of working days lost in 2018 occurred in the education sector (67 working days lost per 1,000 employees), a contrast to 2017 when most working days lost occurred in the transport and storage sector. Back to table of contents 5. Regional analysis As shown in Figure 7, the region with the highest strike rate in 2018 was Scotland (23 working days lost per 1,000 employees). This contrasts with 2017, when the highest strike rate was in London (28 working days lost per 1,000 employees). Figure 7: Scotland had the largest strike rate in 2018 Working days lost per 1,000 employees by country or region, UK, 2017 and 2018 Scotland had the largest strike rate in 2018 Download this image Figure 7: Scotland had the largest strike rate in 2018 .png (133.3 kB) .xls (34.8 kB) Looking at the figures over the 10-year period from 2009 to 2018: * the highest strike rates (22 working days lost per 1,000 employees) occurred in the North East and in Yorkshire and The Humber * the lowest strike rate (seven working days lost per 1,000 employees) occurred in the East of England Dataset Table 2 shows regional strike rates between 2009 and 2018, with a further breakdown of the figures for 2018 by industrial grouping. When interpreting these figures, it is important to bear in mind that the industrial composition of employment in a region is a major influencing factor on the scale of labour disputes it experiences. Back to table of contents 6. Cause of disputes For 2009 and 2010, following the recession, redundancies were the main cause of disputes. However, since 2011, pay has been the main cause of disputes in all years except for 2016, when the main cause was duration and pattern of hours worked (shown within the “Other” category in Figure 8 and due mainly to a dispute involving junior doctors in the National Health Service in England). Figure 8: Pay has been the main cause of labour disputes for the last two years Working days lost by principal cause of dispute, UK, 2009 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 8: Pay has been the main cause of labour disputes for the last two years Image .csv .xls In 2018, over half of the stoppages (50 out of a total of 81) were due to pay disputes and they accounted for: * 225,200 working days lost (around 83% of all working days lost) * 33,500 workers involved (around 85% of all workers involved) Dataset Table 3 shows stoppages in 2018 by principal cause and industry grouping. Disputes over pay also include stoppages over feared or alleged reductions in earnings, as well as disputes over the size of pay increases. Disputes over pension provisions are also classified as disputes over pay. Dataset Table 4 shows information on working days lost by cause of dispute in each year since 2009. The figures are often dominated by one or two very large strikes, which can make comparisons over time difficult. Back to table of contents 7. Disputes by duration Labour disputes statistics cover the number of days that strike action took place, not the number of days the parties involved in the dispute were in disagreement. Table 4 shows the duration of the 81 stoppages in progress in 2018. These show that 12 out of the 81 stoppages in 2018 lasted for only one day. While these one-day stoppages accounted for 14.8% of all stoppages, they only accounted for 2.2% of all workers involved and 0.3% of all working days lost in 2018. CAPTION: Table 4: Working days lost, workers involved and stoppages in progress by duration, UK, 2018 Duration Working days lost (thousands) Proportion of all working days lost (%) Workers involved (thousands) Proportion of all workers (%) Stoppages in progress Proportion of all stoppages (%) 1 0.8 0.3 0.8 2.2 12 14.8 2 11.9 4.4 8.4 21.5 12 14.8 3 1.9 0.7 1.0 2.4 10 12.3 4 9.4 3.4 3.2 8.1 6 7.4 5 4.6 1.7 1.1 2.9 7 8.6 6 to 10 20.6 7.6 3.3 8.3 16 19.8 11 to 15 176.6 64.8 19.0 48.6 5 6.2 16 to 20 1.3 0.5 0.2 0.6 3 3.7 21 to 30 3.8 1.4 0.3 0.8 4 4.9 31 to 50 41.4 15.2 1.7 4.3 5 6.2 Over 50 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 1 1.2 All stoppages 272.7 100.0 39.2 100.0 81 100.0 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes 1. The statistics cover the number of days that strike action took place, not the number of days the parties involved in the dispute were actually in disagreement. 2. Classification by size is based on the full duration of stoppages, but the figure for days lost include only those days lost in 2018. 3. The figures for working days lost and workers involved have been rounded and consequently the sum of the constituent items may not agree precisely with the totals. 4. The working days lost figures are in general less than the product of the duration of each stoppage and the number of workers involved because some workers would not have been involved throughout the dispute – see the Technical note section for more information. 5. Cells containing a hyphen (-) represent a zero. Download this table Table 4: Working days lost, workers involved and stoppages in progress by duration, UK, 2018 .xls .csv Figure 9: Just over half of the total number of stoppages in 2018 lasted for five days or more Number of stoppages in progress by duration of dispute, UK, 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 9: Just over half of the total number of stoppages in 2018 lasted for five days or more Image .csv .xls Back to table of contents 8. Disputes by size Table 5 shows disputes in 2018 by size. Of the 81 stoppages in 2018, over half (45) had less than 500 days lost. These stoppages with less than 500 days lost accounted for only 2.8% of all working days lost. Only two stoppages in 2018 had 25,000 or more days lost, but these two stoppages accounted for 68.6% of all working days lost. This shows the impact that large strikes can have on the figures. CAPTION: Table 5: Stoppages in progress by size of dispute, UK, 2018 Working days lost in each dispute Working days lost (thousands) Proportion of all working days lost (%) Workers involved (thousands) Proportion of all workers (%) Stoppages in progress Proportion of all stoppages (%) Under 250 days 3.7 1.4 2.4 6.0 36 44.4 250 and under 500 3.8 1.4 1.2 3.0 9 11.1 500 and under 1,000 8.7 3.2 1.9 4.7 13 16.0 1,000 and under 5,000 22.3 8.2 4.4 11.4 14 17.3 5,000 and under 25,000 47.3 17.3 11.0 28.2 7 8.6 25,000 days and over 186.9 68.6 18.3 46.7 2 2.5 All stoppages 272.7 100.0 39.2 100.0 81 100.0 Source: Office for National Statistics Notes 1. The figures for working days lost and workers involved have been rounded and consequently the sum of the constituent items may not agree with the totals. Download this table Table 5: Stoppages in progress by size of dispute, UK, 2018 .xls .csv Figure 10: Most stoppages in 2017 and 2018 had less than 500 working days lost Number of stoppages in progress by working days lost, UK, 2017 and 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 10: Most stoppages in 2017 and 2018 had less than 500 working days lost Image .csv .xls Back to table of contents 9. Disputes by public and private sector While records for working days lost go back to 1891, the figures can only be broken down between the public and private sectors from 1996. Table 6 shows working days lost and number of stoppages for the private and public sectors for the last 10 years. CAPTION: Table 6: Number of working days lost and stoppages by public and private sector, UK, 2009 to 2018 Working days lost (thousands) Stoppages¹ Working days lost per 1000 employees² Year Public Private Public Private Public Private 2009 368 88 49 49 57 4 2010 313 52 47 45 49 2 2011 1,276 113 87 62 205 5 2012 198 51 62 69 33 2 2013 363 81 50 64 63 3 2014 716 72 68 87 129 3 2015 90 79 53 53 16 3 2016 243 79 41 60 44 3 2017 44 232 30 49 8 9 2018 26 246 25 56 5 9 Notes 1. Stoppages in progress during the year. 2. Based on the latest estimates of public and private sector employment (Office for National Statistics). Download this table Table 6: Number of working days lost and stoppages by public and private sector, UK, 2009 to 2018 .xls .csv Figure 11: In 2018, the number of working days lost in the public sector (26,000) was the lowest on record Workings days lost by public and private sectors, UK, 1996 to 2018 Source: Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure 11: In 2018, the number of working days lost in the public sector (26,000) was the lowest on record Image .csv .xls As shown in Figure 11, for each year between 2000 and 2016 there were more working days lost in the public sector than in the private sector even though the private sector is much larger. However, for both 2017 and 2018, there were more working days lost in the private sector than in the public sector. In 2018: * the number of working days lost in the private sector (246,000) was the largest since 1996 * the number of working days lost in the public sector (26,000) was the lowest since records for public sector strikes began in 1996 Back to table of contents 10. Quality and methodology The Labour disputes Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information on: * the strengths and limitations of the data and how it compares with related data * uses and users * how the output was created * the quality of the output including the accuracy of the data Back to table of contents 11. Technical note Definition of stoppages The statistics cover stoppages of work in progress in the UK during a year caused by labour disputes between employers and workers, or between workers and other workers, connected with terms and conditions of employment. A distinction can be drawn between stoppages that started in the current year and those that started in earlier years. A stoppage in progress is defined as a dispute that has continued from a previously recorded dispute by the same organisation and for the same cause. Prior to 2015, a dispute was counted as a new stoppage if there was a gap of more than one month between instances of industrial action. From 2015, disputes with a gap of more than one month between instances of industrial action are counted as a single stoppage. The statistics exclude disputes that do not result in a stoppage of work, for example, work-to-rules and go-slows; this is because their effects are not quantifiable to any degree of certainty. Stoppages involving fewer than 10 workers or lasting less than one day are also excluded unless the total number of working days lost in the dispute is 100 or more. Stoppages over issues not directly linked to terms and conditions between workers and employers are omitted, although in most years this is not significant. For example, in 1986 one stoppage was considered to be political (a protest in the coal industry against the visit of an MP) and it was excluded from the figures. The total working days lost amounted to less than 1,000. The next known dispute to be excluded was in 1991. This involved a boycott by self-employed market traders who, after increased rent and changes to the market rules, kept their stalls closed for about 20 weeks. Working days lost Working days lost are defined as the number of days not worked by people as a result of their involvement in a dispute at their place of work. In measuring the number of working days lost, account is taken only of the time lost in the basic working week. Overtime work is excluded, as is weekend working where it is not a regular practice. Where an establishment is open every day, and runs two or more shifts, the statistics will record the number of working days lost for each shift. In recording the number of days lost, allowance is made for public and known annual holidays, such as factory fortnights, occurring within the strike's duration. No allowance is made for absence from work for such reasons as sickness and unauthorised leave. Where strikes last less than the basic working day, the hours lost are converted to full-day equivalents. Similarly, days lost by part-time workers are converted to full-day equivalents. The number of working days lost in a stoppage reflects the actual number of workers involved at each point in the stoppage. This is generally less than the total derived by multiplying the duration of the stoppage by the total number of workers involved at any time during the stoppage, because some workers would not have been involved throughout. Figures given for working days lost per 1,000 employees use employee jobs for each year taken from our most recent estimates of workforce jobs. Number of stoppages There are difficulties in ensuring complete recording of stoppages, in particular short disputes lasting only a day or involving only a few workers may be overlooked. Because of this recording difficulty and the cut-off applied, the number of working days lost is considered to be a better indicator of the impact of labour disputes than the number of recorded stoppages. Workers involved We aim to record the number of workers that are involved at any time in the stoppage. For example, consider a three- day strike where there were 200 workers involved on the first day; 300 on the second day, of whom 100 were involved for the first time; and 200 on the third day, of whom 50 were involved for the first time. The total number of workers involved in the dispute is 350 – the sum of all those involved on the first day, and those joining for the first time on subsequent days. However, the number of workers taking strike action for the first time during a dispute cannot always be easily ascertained. In such cases, the statistics record the highest number involved at any one time (300 in this example). Take another example, where there are 200 workers involved in a stoppage on each of days one, two and three. It may be necessary to assume that there were a total of 200 workers involved, although it is possible, but unlikely, that as many as 600 workers could have been involved. For this reason, the statistics may under-estimate the number of workers involved in a dispute. However, the estimate of the number of working days lost is unaffected by this consideration. Back to table of contents View all data used in this Article Contact details for this Article Richard Clegg labour.market@ons.gov.uk Telephone: +44 (0)1633 455400 Footer links Help * Accessibility * Cookies * Privacy * Terms and conditions About ONS * What we do * Careers * Contact us * Freedom of Information Connect with us * Twitter * Facebook * LinkedIn * Email alerts OGL All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated