Britain’s economy has lost more than three million working days since industrial action escalated last summer, with unions planning another wave of protests in the weeks ahead.
(Bloomberg) — Britain’s economy has lost more than three million working days since industrial action escalated last summer, with unions planning another wave of protests in the weeks ahead.
The Office for National Statistics said Tuesday that 348,000 days were lost because of labor disputes in February, up from 210,000 in January. It took the total to 3.014 million days since the ONS started collecting the data again last June following a pause due to the Covid pandemic.
Workers have been protesting against real-terms pay cuts, particularly in the public sector, amid double-digit inflation. It’s the most severe run of strikes since 1990 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.
February began with a coordinated day of strikes on which almost 500,000 teachers, civil servants and rail workers walked out. A second, bigger day of mass strikes took place in March. Next month the ONS will publish the number of days lost in March.
Three-fifths of the days lost in February were in the education sector.
Teachers, nurses and one ambulance union have announced new strikes in April and May after members were left unimpressed by fresh pay offers from the government, although members of Unison — another health union — voted to accept the deal. Junior doctors have also started to strike.
Further action from nurses and doctors could be coordinated according to comments made by union leaders over the weekend. Education unions are balloting members for the right to schedule more strikes up until Christmas.
There was better progress in the private sector at the weekend as Royal Mail reached an agreement in principle with the Communication Workers Union following a year-long dispute over pay.
Strikes have been weighing heavily on the UK’s public services, causing a hit to February’s GDP reading.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.