§ 23. Mr. Hamlingasked the Minister of Labour how many strikes occurred in the last year for which figures are available, how many workers were involved, and how many work days were lost; and what information he has, through international bodies, as to how these figures compared with those of other leading industrial countries.
§ Mr. ThorntonThe number of stoppages of work due to industrial disputes which began in the United Kingdom in 1964 was 2,524. The number of workers involved in all stoppages in progress in 1964 was about 883,000 and the number of working days lost in 1964 in 21 all stoppages in progress was about 2,277,000.
During the ten years 1954 to 1963, the average number of days lost per 1,000 persons employed was lower in the United Kingdom than in any of the other leading industrial countries except the Federal Republic of Germany and Sweden.
§ Mr. HamlingWould not my hon. Friend agree that the number of working days lost through strikes in this country is far less than 10 per cent. of those lost through industrial accidents and far less than 1 per cent. of those lost through sickness? Do not these figures put into perspective the sort of attack on the trade unions which we so often get from the Opposition benches?
§ Mr. ThorntonI have not worked out the figures as precisely as my hon. Friend has done, but I think that they are approximately correct. Whilst we all regret the industrial disputes, strikes and lockouts that do occur, it is important from time to time to put the problem into perspective.
§ Mr. Ronald BellIs the Joint Parliamentary Secretary aware that the number of working days lost through strikes in the first four months of this year was 11 per cent. more than in the same period of last year and four times as much as in the same period of 1963? In view of this, what has the hon. Gentleman to say about fin words of his noble Friend the Lord Chancellor last October, "If you want more strikes, vote Conservative"?
§ Mr. ThorntonHad the hon. Gentleman gone back one year further and taken the last three years, he would know that the number of days lost in the first four months of this year was just about the average of the three preceding years.
§ Mr. PagetDo the figures which my hon. Friend has given work out at a little over half an hour per year per employed person lost through industrial disputes? Does not this figure make the amount of publicity given to strikes by the Opposition Press seem a little ridiculous?
§ Mr. ThorntonYes, the actual figure is certainly less than one hour per worker per year. I hope that responsible persons and some of the Press will cease giving the impression, which is accepted abroad, that Britain is a strike-torn country, because it just is not true. The incidence of strikes in the United States of America, Japan, France and many other countries is far greater than in this country.