Strikes (Hansard, 20 June 1989)

§ 45. Mr. Watts
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many working days were lost through strikes in the first five months of(a) 1989 and (b) 1979; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The estimate for May 1989 of working days lost through stoppages of work due to industrial disputes is not yet available; but for the first four months of 1989 it is provisionally estimated that 256,000 working days were lost, compared with 7,591,000 working days lost for the corresponding period in 1979.

§ 107. Mr. Burt
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will introduce legislation to legalise sympathy strikes; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Nicholls
No. The Green Paper "Removing Barriers to Employment", published on 20 March, states that the Government propose to make it unlawful to induce industrial action by workers of an employer not party to a trade dispute except in the case of lawful picketing.
124W

§ 101. Mr. Patrick Thompson
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the number of working days lost through strikes in 1988.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The number of working days lost through stoppages of work due to industrial disputes in 1988 is estimated at 3,702,000. This is about a third of the annual average over the previous 10-year period.

§ 64. Mr. Cran
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when he intends to publish his proposals to limit the incidence of unofficial trade union stoppages.

§ Mr. Nicholls
The Government are reviewing the law in relation to industrial action with a view to issuing a consultative document over the next couple of months and including proposals in legislation in the autumn.