HC Deb 19 January 1970 vol 794 cc55-6W
Mr. Eldon Griffiths

asked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if she will publish a table showing for each of the months of 1969, and for purposes of comparison of the same months in the preceding five years, the number of working days lost through official strikes, unofficial strikes, sickness and absenteeism, respectively.

Mr. Harold Walker

The following table relates to stoppages of work due

WORKING DAYS LOST IN ALL STOPPAGES IN PROGRESS IN MONTH
Thousands
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
1969(provisional)
Total … … 364 432 751 311 397 405 427 558 394 1,849 520 364
Of which known official … … 76 174 454 48 107 166 122 42 36 48 37 1
1968
Total … … 157 268 289 257 1,861 277 179 217 403 377 289 115
Of which known official … … 21 113 35 37 1,535 120 56 77 76 51 45 33
1967
Total … … 133 171 155 184 227 195 164 142 379 600 321 115
Of which known official … … 60 35 44 42 26 45 10 4 5 18 55 50
1966
Total … … 147 186 153 121 391 790 133 64 60 163 135 57
Of which known official … … 43 27 28 27 305 612 30 7 12 24 32 25
1965
Total … … 123 371 421 263 503 328 183 169 149 195 145 74
Of which known official … … 31 78 214 49 50 37 28 28 15 21 42 14
1964
Total … … 381 178 179 268 204 172 249 100 159 161 159 68
Of which known official … … 278 30 42 40 31 20 134 8 12 20 24 51

to industrial disputes in the United Kingdom and shows total working days lost and days lost through stoppages known to have been official. It is not known whether all of the stoppages accounting for the remainder were unofficial but the great majority would have been.

Department of Health and Social Security statistics of days of certified absence due to sickness notified for national insurance purposes relate to Great Britain and are available only for complete years ending at the beginning of June. They are as follows: 1967–68, 328 million; 1966–67, 301 million; 1965–66, 311 million; 1964–65, 299 million; 1963–64, 287 million, and 1962–63, 289 million. Corresponding figures of days of absence due to industrial injuries and prescribed diseases are 23, 23, 24, 23, 22 and 20 million. Figures for 1968–69 are not yet available.

There are no comparable national statistics of absenteeism but some information for September, 1968, was obtained from the "New Earnings Survey" and is published in the September, 1969, issue (pages 824–31) of the "Employment and Productivity Gazette".