Strikes: Number of days lost to action hits highest level in 33 years

In the five months since the start of June, some 1.1 million working days have been wiped out due to stoppages as workers, predominately in the public sector, fight for substantial pay rises in the wake of economic turmoil which has sent the cost of energy and food soaring.

Industrial unrest is at its highest level for the five-month period since 1989, when over three million working days were lost.

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The government’s statistical agency found that the number of working days lost to strikes rose to 417,000 in October in the UK, the highest level in more than a decade.

In Scotland, some 92,700 working days have been lost over the five months.

The 35 working days lost per 1,000 employees in Scotland over the period is 75% more than the annual average of 20 for a whole year for the period from 2008 to 2017, according to analysis of official data.

Over the period, the number of working days lost each month in Scotland has risen over sevenfold from 4,000 in June to 29,500 in October.

It is feared that it could get worse, amidst a growing backlash over pay from public sector workers, after ministers agreed a “breakthrough” deal of up to 10% in a dispute at newly nationalised ScotRail with train drivers’ union Aslef. This followed action to stop work on rest days that led to an emergency timetable, which cut up to half of daily services from May 8 into mid-June.

The bin strike in Edinburgh in August

Scotland was also hit by a two-week bin collection strike in August in a local government workers pay dispute.

A potential spillover that would have closed schools was averted at the 11th hour in early September when more money was found to top up a pay pot to £600 million to fund a new deal.

The first bin strike began in the capital on August 18 in the midst of festival season, after the unions – the GMB, Unite and Unison – rejected an initial pay offer equivalent to a 3.5% increase.

Nurses, midwives, health workers, railway workers and teachers are among those preparing for new strike action in January, having been offered pay deals of 5%-7.5%.

Scottish Trades Union Congress general secretary Roz Foyer said: “Workers are facing a cost of living crisis. Real wages have fallen over the past decade and rampant inflation threatens livelihoods further. 

“Public sector workers such as teachers and health workers have seen pay fall particularly acutely. 

“On top of their own cost of living worries, workers in sectors such as rail and the Royal Mail are seeing threats to the very services they provide.

“It’s no surprise that unionised workers across the economy are taking, or are balloting for, industrial action.”

CBI Scotland said the expansion in strike action across numerous sectors was “regrettable, but unsurprising” in a cost of living crisis. 

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“At a time of such economic hardship for people and businesses throughout Scotland, the focus must be on the constructive dialogue needed to resolve disputes,” said a spokesman.

“Many businesses are having to make difficult workforce decisions and need to strike a balance between fair pay settlements at a time of high inflation versus their capacity to run their day-to-day operations and invest for the future.”

Nurses, midwives and teachers  are the latest to take a dispute into a preparation for strike action over the latest pay offer for NHS workers.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and the GMB voted to reject the offer.

RCN Scotland had said it will continue planning for industrial action and, early in the new year, will announce dates for strikes.
Humza Yousaf had continued to insist going into renewed talks before Christmas that the half billion pound pay package was the “best and final offer”.

The deal formed part of the NHS Scotland pay offer which would increase the NHS pay bill in Scotland by £515m and an average of 7.5%.

Teachers on the picket line at Smithycroft Secondary School in Glasgow (Image: PA)

Members of three major NHS unions in Scotland, Unite, Unison and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy voted to accept the improved pay offer having previously been in dispute.

Schools in many parts of Scotland will be closed in January as teachers walk out on strike in their dispute over pay.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has already announced national strikes on January 10 and 11 followed by 16 consecutive days of action - split across every council in the country - beginning the following week.

Members of the NASUWT will walk out in primary schools on January 10 while secondary teachers will walk out on January 11.

Teachers have already rejected a deal which would see most staff in classrooms receive a 5% pay rise, although the lowest earning teachers would get a 6.85% increase.

NASWUT is calling for a fully funded pay award of 12% for 2022/23 after rejecting Cosla’s improved offer, worth up to 6.85%.

It said the current pay offer tabled amounts to a real-terms pay cut, as inflation reached 10.7% in November.

Meanwhile rail passengers in Scotland have been hit by a UK-wide pay dispute involving National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers members, who maintain the rails, signals and stations, which has led to a slashing of nationalised ScotRail and cross-border services during the festive period and into January.

There were to be no trains on Boxing Day and services were to start later on December 27.

Further strikes by RMT workers are planned on January 3-4 and 6-7.
Train drivers belonging to the Aslef union across 15 rail companies - including the cross-border TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast - are due to strike on January 5.