§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leek, Official Report, 15 March, if he will detail in the Official Report any estimates available to him relating to the number of man-hours lost through (a) go-slows, (b) overtime-bans and (c) work-to-rules in British manufacturing industry over the most recent 12-month period for which such estimates are available.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerNo such estimates have been made.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leek, Official Report, 15 March, if he will detail in the Official Report any recent estimates available to him relating to the number of stoppages in particular industries necessitated as a result of stoppages by key firms, in those industries or in other ancillary industries which act as vital suppliers or sales outlets to those particular industries.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerNo such estimates have been made.
§ Mr. Knoxasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Leek, Official Report, 15 March, if his Department's practice of recording statistics of working days lost through industrial disputes only where such disputes are strikes or lockouts lasting a day or more, or involving 10 workers or more, or involving more than 100 working days, is in accord with the practice of each of the other EEC 417W member States, the United States of America and Japan; and, if not, if he will detail in the Official Report the differences in such practices in the collection of statistics relating to industrial relations in manufacturing industry;
(2) if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for 1976, 1977, and the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available, the number of working days lost through industrial disputes per employee in manufacturing industry in each of the EEC member States, the United States of America and Japan.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe latest available figures are given in the following table. The data are not fully comparable owing to differences in methods and coverage of the statistics in the various countries. It should also be noted that the figures for most countries fluctuate markedly from year to year. No data on industrial disputes are available for Luxembourg.
WORKING DAYS LOST THROUGH INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES PER THOUSAND EMPLOYEES IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY 1976 1977 United Kingdom 320 1,100 Belgium 860 630 Denmark 390 420 France 550 320 Germany (FR) 60 — Irish Republic 700 1,310 Italy* 2,200 1,480 Netherlands* 10 140 United States*† 1,190 .. Japan* 150 70 Notes: * Including mining, construction and transport. † Also including electricity, gas and water. — Less than five. .. Not available. Sources:
Eurostat: "Employment and Unemployment 1971–1977".
International Labour Office.
Like the United Kingdom, most other countries do not include small strikes in their statistics in order to save costs and additional burdens on firms. Details of known thresholds for inclusion of strikes or lock-outs in statistics are listed below; such thresholds are not considered to affect substantially the estimates of working days lost.
Exclusions
United Kingdom—Stoppages involving fewer than 10 workers or lasting less than a day, except where more than 100 working days are lost.
418WDenmark—Stoppages where fewer than 100 working days are lost.
Germany (FR)—As for the United Kingdom.
United States—Stoppages involving fewer than 6 workers or lasting less than a full day or shift.
Japan—Stoppages lasting less than four hours.
Ireland—Stoppages lasting less than one day or where less than 10 working days are lost.
Italy—Stoppages lasting less than one hour or involving fewer than three workers.