§ 29. Mr. Redmondasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many working days have been lost in 1971 through industrial disputes other than in the Post Office; how many disputes were known to be official how many concerned pay claims; and how many were settled in less than three days.
§ Mr. Bryan1,742,000 working days were lost in such stoppages in progress in January and February, 1971. 417 such stoppages began in this period. Of these 12 were known to be official, 213 concerned wages and 169 lasted not more than three days. All these figures are provisional and exclude the Post Office dispute.
§ 32. Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Secretary of State for Employment which six industries, or industrial groups, had the highest number of days lost through stoppages due to all strikes, indicating the days lost in strikes known to have been official, in 1970; and what has been the change on the previous year.
§ Mr. BryanFollowing is the information:
newspapers, rubber, road passenger transport, docks, insurance, education and other local authority services.
§ 38. Mr. David Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of working days lost by strikes not known to be official and strikes in breach of agreement during 1971.
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§ Mr. BryanUp to the end of February, 1,685,000 working days were lost in stoppages other than those known to be official. This figure is provisional. It is not possible to estimate how many working days were lost due to stoppages in breach of agreement.
§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the loss of output as a proportion of gross national product caused by strikes during the year 1969–70, or the latest year for which comparative information is available, from international sources, in Great Britain, other European Free Trade Association countries, European Economic Community countries and the United States of America.
§ Mr. BryanI regret that official estimates for loss of production due to stoppages are not available.