§ Mr. George Rodgersasked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the main findings of the study of strike activity which his Department has carried out.
§ Mr. BoothThe November 1976 issue of theDepartment of Employment Gazette contains some results of a research study of industrial stoppages carried out within the Department. The research is an important contribution to the understanding of the pattern of industrial conflict in this country.
The most important finding is that, in manufacturing industry, industrial stoppages are concentrated in a small minority of plants, while the overwhelming majority of plants are completely free of stoppages. From an analysis of stoppages in manufacturing industry during three years of relatively high strike activity ending in 1973, the research shows that in any one year 98 per cent. of plants had no stoppages. In an average year over 80 per cent. of employees in manufacturing work in plants that are free of industrial stoppages.
Analysis has also been carried out of the incidence of stoppages by region of the country. Although it was found that certain areas, inevitably, had a higher overall level of stoppages than others, it was found that in all sub-divisions of Great Britain stoppages were concentrated in a small minority of manufacturing plants.