UK records lowest number of working days since 1990

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Feb 2023 15:27

Official figures indicated that between the months of June and December last year, the number of lost days was recorded at 2,471,000, the highest since 1989.

Royal Mail workers protest as members strike over pay and conditions, in London. Credit: Reuters

British media reported on Tuesday that the UK registered the lowest number of working days in 2022 since 1989, due to industrial action triggered by high energy bills, underpaid work, excruciating work conditions, and inflation spiraling out of control in the past year and a half.

According to a report published by UK broadcaster Sky News, citing data from the country's Office for National Statistics, the number of working days lost to labor disputes in December alone amounted to 843,000.

Official figures further indicated that between the months of June and December last year, the number of lost days was recorded at 2,471,000, the highest since 1989.

The ONS said that in 1989, about 4.1 million working days were lost to strike by coal miners and railroad workers who protested against the termination of health benefits.

Sources reported in December last year that the number of lost working days from industrial actions between the months of January and November was the highest in 10 years, with 417,000 lost days recorded.

The effects of the post-pandemic recession and the sanctions against Russia have triggered bearish trends in the British economy that are forecasting an inevitable recession in light of weak policy planning and the lack of political alternatives.

Recent updates reveal that about 500,000 workers in the UK went on strike on February 1 to demand increased wages.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), the overarching labor organization in the UK, considered the protests as the "biggest day of strike action since 2011." The most recent groups to take action included border force personnel at UK air and seaports, as well as teachers, and train drivers.

Earlier on January 29, Sunak promised the British parliament that his administration will be restoring economic stability after his predecessor's tax plans triggered market turmoil.

Sunak, since taking on his role as PM, ripped up a number of Liz Truss' policies that frustrated the country, in addition to reinstating the ban on fracking and putting under review large-scale deregulation policies in the economy, initially part of Truss' plans.

"We will have to take difficult decisions to restore economic stability and confidence," Sunak told the House of Commons. "We will do this in a fair way."

"I will always protect the most vulnerable. We did it in COVID and we will do it again," he said.

Conservatives perceive Sunak as a "safe pair of hands" in hopes that he will bring stability to the economy heading toward an inevitable recession.